The judge Pedraz indicts the president of SEPI in the 'Leire Díez case' and extends the blow to Ferraz

The 'Leire Díez case' takes a significant leap in the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI). The judge of the Audiencia Nacional Santiago Pedraz has agreed to direct the procedure against the president of SEPI, Belén Gualda, and another 24 people, after finding indications of criminality in the part that investigates alleged rigging, mediations, and influences over public and private companies.

The resolution responds to the brief from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which requested to summon as investigated public executives, businessmen, and officials linked to several suspicious operations. Among the names are the former president of Enusa, José Vicente Berlanga; the former Castilian-Manchegan counselor Rosario Arévalo; the former Acciona executive Francisco Javier López Buciega; the former president of Mercasa, José Ramón Sempere; the founder of Forestalia, Fernando Samper; and several officials from Tubos Reunidos.

The procedure stems from the investigation into the group Hirurok, a Basque term meaning “the three of us,” allegedly formed by former socialist militant Leire Díez, former SEPI president Vicente Fernández, and businessman Antxon Alonso, partner of Santos Cerdán. The Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard maintains that this core would have acted in a coordinated manner through meetings, calls, secure messaging, and shell companies to influence public files and obtain economic benefits.

The Anti-Corruption brief places the investigation in five major operations. The first points to Mercasa and contracts with Servinabar linked to the possible relocation of the public company's headquarters. The second affects Enusa and dealings related to waste assets that interested Acciona. The third focuses on the rescue of Tubos Reunidos through the Fund for Support for the Solvency of Strategic Companies. The fourth points to the Principality of Asturias Business Park (PEPA) and payments linked to the Erri Berri group. The fifth affects Forestalia and renewable energy projects.

The focus on Gualda and Tubos Reunidos

Belén Gualda's indictment is especially linked to the Tubos Reunidos file, a large-volume operation within the rescue fund managed by SEPI during the pandemic. The Prosecutor's Office highlights documents and communications that allude to the role of the president of the state company in processing public aid.

According to Anticorrupción, Vicente Fernández shared a document in the Hirurok group about the rescue of Tubos Reunidos, which included the chronology of the request, favorable reports from SEPI units, external advisors, and the Ministry of Industry, as well as an alleged commitment from Gualda to the then head of the company for the operation to go ahead.

The Public Prosecutor's Office also points to internal communications in which the initials “BG” were used to refer to Belén Gualda and the intention to carry out certain operations, including the one corresponding to Tubos Reunidos, was discussed. The Prosecutor's Office adds that Gualda would have participated in political meetings to expedite the aid and that she was the one who signed the elevation of the proposal to the Fund's Management Board.

The UCO has also focused on the alleged intervention of Hirurok in later stages of the relationship with Tubos Reunidos. The document mentions a meeting in Ferraz in November 2024 linked to a company request to SEPI, as well as notes seized at the socialist headquarters regarding the authorization of the deferral of an early partial amortization of debt. Anticorrupción maintains that these indications suggest that Santos Cerdán would have known about Tubos Reunidos' intentions and the role of several investigated parties.

Pedraz has not yet set a date for the statements. Before that, he will require the new investigated parties to appoint a lawyer and a solicitor so that they can become aware of the facts attributed to them. The case is still in the investigation phase and all investigated parties maintain their presumption of innocence intact.

The political impact is immediate. The indictment of the SEPI president once again places the Government and the PSOE before a sensitive derivative of the 'Leire Díez case', just as Ferraz tries to close ranks after the conviction of Ábalos, the fall of Cerdán, and the investigations into the socialist environment.