Santos Cerdán is under the spotlight for the 'Leire Díez case' commissions: the PSOE manager points to him as "the highest institution within the party"

The judicial investigation into the so-called ‘Leire Díez case’ once again focuses on the internal structure of the PSOE and, in particular, on the role played by the Organization Secretariat during the period of Santos Cerdán. The party's manager, Ana María Fuentes, placed the then number two of the party as the person with the greatest decision-making capacity within the party in her statement as an investigated party before the judge of the Audiencia Nacional Santiago Pedraz.

According to the recording of her appearance, held on September 7 and to which 'Europa Press' has had access, Fuentes stated that Cerdán was the "highest institution within the party" and that his area determined both the amount of the contracted services and the way to carry them out.

The manager explained to the magistrate that her relationship with Cerdán was "normal" and that they hardly ever met at the federal headquarters in Ferraz because the former Organization Secretary performed "many functions outside." Fuentes thus differentiated her own responsibilities from the political and economic decisions attributed to the structure directed by Cerdán.

In her statement, she assured that her job consisted of "pure and hard management" and that she did not participate "in any political activity." In contrast, she pointed to the Organization Secretary as "the highest institution within the party" and maintained that, "therefore, he has the power to carry out any type of action."

Fuentes dissociates Sánchez from economic management

Based on that explanation, the PSOE manager assured that "all economic matters" had been processed with the Organization Secretariat. Her account therefore places these decisions in the area directed by Cerdán and not in the party's General Secretariat, which is held by Pedro Sánchez and also holds the Presidency of the Government.

Fuentes also denied knowing Ismael Oliver, former lawyer of Koldo García, and Jacobo Teijelo, Cerdán's lawyer, both investigated in the case. She also denied having prepared false invoices for them.

Her statement comes after the Central Operative Unit (UCO) pointed out in one of its reports that the federal manager of the PSOE "would have been the person in charge, with the intermediation of Díez and under the directives of Cerdán, of falsifying two professional engagement notes" destined for two law firms.

Facing that hypothesis, Fuentes stated that she did not negotiate the contracts. As she explained, "it is the area itself that had contracted the services," referring to the Secretariat of Organization, which established "what the payment for the service would be and how they would be carried out."

The assignments to Teijelo and Oliver, under investigation

In relation to Jacobo Teijelo, the manager explained that there was a fax through which the PSOE communicated that, not being able to "ratify that those services had been done," it returned two invoices, although three others were paid.

Regarding Ismael Oliver, Fuentes maintained that "it is the same Secretariat of Organization" that communicated "that another person was also advising him" and that an invoice was going to be presented. "So we say that, given that we are going to have a relationship with him, we need this to be formalized, and it is the legal advisory itself that makes an assignment sheet and we begin the processing of the invoice," she recounted before Pedraz.

The economic background of these proceedings lies in the payments that the UCO is investigating in relation to Leire Díez. Agents suspect that the PSOE used companies linked to the party and to former socialist leader Gaspar Zarrías to deliver a total of 43,225 euros to the former militant through different operations.

According to the police report, four of those payments came from Zaño Sociedad Consultora, linked to Zarrías, for an amount of 4,000 euros each between June and September 2024. The fifth, of 27,225 euros, would have come from Oliver Gruppe, related to Ismael Oliver.

The UCO maintains that the companies would have acted as intermediaries to "deliver funds to Leire originating from the party" and points out that Díez would have received in a bank account "at least five payments" linked to the alleged plot. The judicial investigation remains open and the investigated persons maintain the presumption of innocence.