The 'Point of Inflection'

The alleged criminal network within Spain's ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) began to take shape in late April 2024, immediately after a Madrid court indicted Begoña Gómez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, for corruption. Judge Santiago Pedraz of the Audiencia Nacional identifies the Prime Minister's dramatic 'Letter to the Citizenry' and subsequent five-day 'period of reflection' as the catalyst. According to the judicial order, it was during this window that then-PSOE Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán convened a pivotal meeting at the party's Ferraz Street headquarters.

“I'm going to Madrid urgently. Santos [Cerdán] has told me to come. We have information that would help the president.”

The Ferraz Meeting and the 'Fontanera'

The meeting on April 26, 2024, is described by Judge Pedraz as a 'turning point' in the investigated activity. Attendees included Cerdán, the party's communications director Ion Antolín, businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, and Juan Manuel Serrano, Sánchez's former chief of staff. The central operational figure was Leire Díez, a former public company executive dubbed the PSOE's 'fontanera' (plumber). The group allegedly set out to systematically destabilize judicial proceedings affecting the party, the government, and the president's inner circle.

“This meeting is considered the turning point with respect to the investigated activity.”

Targeting Judges, Prosecutors, and the Guardia Civil

The judicial order details a campaign to neutralize magistrates leading sensitive cases, explicitly naming judges Juan Carlos Peinado, Beatriz Biedma, and Mercedes Alaya. The network also sought to infiltrate the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the Guardia Civil's Central Operative Unit (UCO). One of the alleged operatives, UCO agent Juan Sánchez Yepes, is accused of receiving direct payments from the PSOE to sabotage investigations. The order states the group aimed to 'dismantle the Guardia Civil' from within.

“The president of the government is referring to everything we are doing.”

Following Orders 'from the One'

Intercepted communications and handwritten notes seized from Leire Díez repeatedly point to knowledge of the operation at the highest level of government. In one message, Juanma Serrano, a close confidant of Sánchez, told Díez to 'look how the boss cites the audios' during a public appearance. A seized note from Díez stated that the group's priority lines of action were carried out 'on the order of the one,' a term the judge interprets as a reference to the Prime Minister.

Party Resources and a 'Criminal Structure'

Judge Pedraz asserts that Santos Cerdán placed the party's own structure at the disposal of the 'criminal organization.' The PSOE allegedly financed the logistics, including travel and vehicle rentals, and used its headquarters for meetings. Payments to Leire Díez were reportedly channeled through the law firm of Ismael Oliver and companies linked to Cerdán's lawyer, Jacobo Teijelo, with the complicity of the party's Organization Secretariat manager, Ana Fuentes, who allegedly issued false invoices to transfer funds.

The UCO Raid on Ferraz

On Wednesday, agents from the UCO raided the PSOE's national headquarters on Ferraz Street in Madrid. Acting on Judge Pedraz's orders, they seized accounting books, party contracts, invoices, visitor logs, vehicle access records, and cloned email accounts of employees. The investigation encompasses alleged crimes of criminal organization, bribery, disclosure of secrets, influence peddling, and offenses against state institutions.