The Leire Díez case returns to court: the PSOE manager testifies before the judge for payments to the former militant

The judicial investigation into Leire Díez resumes its activity this Wednesday with the declaration of Ana María Fuentes, manager of the PSOE, before the judge of the National Court Santiago Pedraz. Fuentes will appear as an investigated party in a case that analyzes whether the socialist party allocated funds to the former militant with the aim of intervening in judicial proceedings that could compromise the party or the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.

Fuentes currently holds an organic position in the PSOE and is, according to the information provided in the case, the only person who maintains responsibility within the socialist leadership while being investigated. The judge attributes to her a possible crime of falsification of a commercial document, related to several engagement notes issued to justify payments to lawyers Ismael Oliver and Jacobo Teijelo.

The instructor's theory is that these documents could have served to provide formal coverage for operations whose true destination would have been Leire Díez and other people. Pedraz points to the "presumable concert" of Fuentes, "who issued the appropriate engagement orders on which to elaborate mendacious invoices that would allow the transfer of funds destined for Leire Díez."

The investigation maintains that the PSOE would have disbursed at least 43,225 euros related to Díez through different intermediaries. Among them appear former socialist leader Santos Cerdán, former Andalusian vice president Gaspar Zarrías, and lawyer Ismael Oliver. Investigators attribute to Cerdán the organization of a structure aimed at interfering in certain judicial cases and place Díez in the coordination of these actions.

The procedure also affects several former PSOE officials. Among those investigated are Santos Cerdán, Gaspar Zarrías, and Juan Manuel Serrano, who was Pedro Sánchez's chief of staff in the party, as well as the director of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González.

The case will also continue this Thursday with the appearance of Leonardo Marcos, former director of the Civil Guard and González's predecessor. His statement comes after a commander of the Central Operative Unit (UCO) indicated that he would have received pressure not to get involved in the investigations related to the brother of the Prime Minister. Also summoned as an investigated party is Ismael Oliver, who served as a lawyer for former ministerial advisor Koldo García. The UCO maintains that Oliver would have received 22,500 euros from the PSOE whose final destination would be Díez and identifies him as a "payment vehicle" to the former militant through his companies.