UCO: Santos Cerdán's wife got €1,300/month from fake job; family gained €323,000 in irregular benefits

Fake employment for Cerdán's wife

The UCO found that Francisca Muñoz, wife of former PSOE organization secretary Santos Cerdán, received 1,300 euros per month from Lorgen Genética Proteómica between 2023 and early 2024, totalling 18,730.15 euros. The company told investigators that Muñoz was hired as an administrative assistant at the request of external collaborator Roberto Pérez Águeda, who said his own firm, Universal Scale World, could not employ her due to "family incompatibilities". In exchange, Universal hired a Lorgen employee under identical conditions. Lorgen's sole administrator, José Antonio Jiménez de la Cruz, stated that Muñoz never worked for the company and that they had no contact with her.

Francisca Muñoz never worked for Lorgen, and we do not know her nor have we had contact with her at any moment.

The UCO concluded that the arrangement was a mechanism to channel funds to Cerdán's wife under the appearance of a labour contract. Muñoz was dismissed on 21 February 2024, one day after the arrest of Koldo García, former advisor to minister José Luis Ábalos, in the mask procurement fraud case.

Servinabar and the Acciona connection

The UCO's 163-page patrimonial report states that Cerdán and his family obtained 323,178 euros in irregular benefits between 2015 and 2024, with the highest amounts recorded from 2019 to 2023, coinciding with Ábalos's tenure as transport minister. The main vehicle was Servinabar 2000, a company in which Cerdán is suspected to hold a hidden 45% stake alongside businessman Antxon Alonso. A document seized at Alonso's home indicated that stake, though it was never formally registered. Servinabar's total income from 2015 to 2025 reached 8.6 million euros, of which 7.5 million (87.04%) came from the construction group Acciona. In 2019 and 2020, Acciona's share of Servinabar's income was 95.72% and 99.81%, respectively, with annual income peaking at 1,930,953 euros in 2020.

The report also notes 18,261 euros in cash deposits of unknown origin into Cerdán's accounts between 2014 and 2017, which the UCO considers a possible undeclared income source. A reduction in card spending and cash withdrawals from 2019 onward coincided with the ministerial period and the awarding of contracts under investigation to Acciona.

Attempted purchase of a luxury apartment

Between September and October 2021, Servinabar negotiated the purchase of a flat on Calle Santa Cruz de Marcenado in Madrid for 985,000 euros, intended for Cerdán and his wife. A deposit of 9,000 euros was paid from a Servinabar account, and Cerdán visited the property with Muñoz. The deal collapsed after the seller withdrew, and the deposit was returned in January 2022.

Prison contract in Donostia

The UCO also examined the 42.7-million-euro contract for the new Zubieta prison in Donostia, awarded in 2021 to a joint venture of Acciona, Cycasa and Murias. Alonso, despite having no formal role in the venture, received internal documents about the bid and mediated the distribution of works. Cycasa subsequently paid Servinabar 181,492.74 euros, and an additional 12,100 euros came directly from Sumelzo, a company linked to a state secretary. A handwritten note found in Alonso's home read:

Francisca Muñoz. Traceability. What did she do? Work?

UCO seeks broader financial scrutiny

The UCO has asked the judge to authorise requests to five banks for detailed financial information on Cerdán's wife, daughter Alba, sister María Belén, and brother-in-law Antonio Muñoz, covering all transactions above 300 euros since 2014, as well as safety deposit boxes and any suspicious activity reports. The agents stress that the requests must be handled centrally to avoid alerting the account holders.