The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office considers that there is evidence against the PSOE in the so-called Leire Díez case, although it believes that, for now, it is premature to request the party's indictment.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has conveyed this assessment to the judge of the Audiencia Nacional, Santiago Pedraz, in the case in which former socialist militant Leire Díez, former party organization secretary Santos Cerdán, and lawyers, among others, are also being investigated for allegedly obstructing judicial cases affecting the PSOE and the Government.
The report comes after the request of the Popular Party
Legal sources indicate that Anti-Corruption does not consider a party indictment appropriate at the moment and maintains that, before moving in that direction, pending proceedings, such as the statement of Santos Cerdán, must be carried out.
The Public Prosecutor's Office's response came a day after Santiago Pedraz requested a report on the indictment of the PSOE, a measure requested by the Popular Party (PP) for alleged illegal financing, among other crimes.
The unified popular accusation led by the popular party members requested the indictment of the PSOE, considering that the actions carried out "confirm" that the party "defrayed" the expenses of the alleged "criminal organization at the indication" of Santos Cerdán.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office finds evidence against the PSOE in the so-called Leire Díez case, although, for the moment, it considers it premature to request the party's indictment. This has been conveyed to the judge of the Audiencia Nacional, Santiago Pedraz, in the case in which former socialist militant Leire Díez, former PSOE Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán, and several lawyers, among others, are also being investigated for alleged maneuvers to obstruct judicial proceedings that could affect the party and the Government.
Anti-Corruption asks to wait for pending proceedings
Legal sources indicate that the Public Prosecutor's Office does not consider it appropriate, for the moment, to take the step of indicting the PSOE and maintains that pending proceedings, including the statement of Santos Cerdán, must be carried out first. Anti-Corruption's response comes after magistrate Santiago Pedraz requested a specific report on the possible indictment of the party, a request promoted by the Popular Party (PP) within the framework of the investigation. According to the account, the report is produced one day after Pedraz requested that pronouncement.
The unified popular accusation, led by the popular party members, maintains that the actions already carried out "confirm" that the party "defrayed" the expenses of the alleged "criminal organization at the indication" of Santos Cerdán. In this context, the PP's brief demands that the PSOE be investigated for alleged crimes of bribery, embezzlement, influence peddling, money laundering, and illegal financing.
The PP places the origin of the plot in the socialist leadership
The party led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo maintains that the facts point to a structure organized from within the party and not to isolated initiatives. In its brief, the popular party members speak of a "criminal organization" that, allegedly, would have been led by Santos Cerdán during his time as PSOE Organization Secretary and that, according to their thesis, would have been created at the party's national headquarters to protect the interests of the Government and the organization itself.
The document presented to the Audiencia Nacional links these alleged maneuvers to the period after the five days of reflection that Pedro Sánchez took in April 2024, after publicly announcing that he was considering his continuity at the head of the Executive. Judge Santiago Pedraz had already placed a relevant point of the investigation in that period, considering that a meeting held in Ferraz on April 26, 2024 could mark the beginning of the activities attributed to the alleged plot.
According to the judicial investigation, Santos Cerdán would have commissioned Leire Díez to carry out actions aimed at destabilizing judicial procedures or police actions that could harm the PSOE or the Government. In May, the magistrate indicted Santos Cerdán himself, former vice president of the Junta de Andalucía Gaspar Zarrías, and the PSOE manager, Ana María Fuentes, within this case.
Leire Díez, Ana María Fuentes and the investigated payments
The PP's brief also points to the alleged collaboration of Ana María Fuentes Pacheco, current PSOE manager and one of those investigated in the procedure. In addition, the popular party claims that the network would have tried to "twist the will" of several prosecutors and a commander of the Guardia Civil, and cites in that section prosecutors José Grinda and Ignacio Stampa, as well as Commander Rubén Villalba.
Along the same lines, the popular party members establish a connection between Leire Díez and Mercedes González, director general of the Guardia Civil, through the "personal and repeated" relationship that, according to the PP, both maintained. The investigation has incorporated in recent months various proceedings on Díez's alleged actions and on the funds used to cover expenses linked to the plot.
The Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil concluded in a report that the PSOE would have paid 43,225 euros to Leire Díez through two intermediaries. According to the investigators, four transfers of 4,000 euros and other payments linked to lawyers would have originated from the party, an extreme that is part of the material analyzed by the instructor and that now adds to the debate on the eventual criminal responsibility of the PSOE in this case.