Spanish police probe links PNV to Tubos Reunidos bailout scheme

Spanish police probe links PNV to Tubos Reunidos bailout scheme

A new report by the Guardia Civil's Unidad Central Operativa (UCO), the investigative unit of Spain's Civil Guard, reveals that the corrupt network in the Leire case used its access to PNV members to get Pedro Sánchez's government to rescue the Basque company Tubos Reunidos with 112.8 million euros in public funds. According to the documentation, obtained by El Confidencial, the intermediaries Leire Díez and Vicente Fernández collected an illegal commission of 247,459 euros. In addition, the network also arranged a deferral of the repayment of the funds.

The PNV's role in the bailout

The report details that PNV president Andoni Ortuzar held a meeting with Leire Díez and Santos Cerdán, the PSOE's Organisation Secretary, to discuss the rescue. The UCO maintains that the PNV played a key role in the alleged rigging of the operation, although it does not specify what the Basque party received in return. This lack of detail fuels doubts about the real benefit obtained.

Unanswered questions

The Tubos Reunidos rescue, approved by the SEPI (Spain's state holding company for industrial participations), raises suspicions about the management of public funds. Why was the PNV's intermediation necessary if the decision rested with the SEPI? What did the PNV get in return? The answers do not appear in the report, leaving open the possibility that the network merely used political influence without any clear gain for the party. However, the repeated pattern of alliances between the PSOE and the PNV in corruption cases does not go unnoticed.

The meeting between Ortuzar, Leire and Cerdán, first reported by El Mundo, reinforces the hypothesis of coordination to facilitate the rescue. Meanwhile, the sense of political impunity continues to grow among citizens, who watch parties take turns in power without being held accountable.