UCO arrests six in Transport contract-rigging inquiry

Spain's UCO arrested six people on Thursday in Madrid, Córdoba, Valencia and Sevilla. All were released later that day as a secret court inquiry moved forward.

The Guardia Civil unit is looking into alleged rigging of public works contracts. The contracts came from the Transport Ministry while José Luis Ábalos was minister.

National Court judge Ismael Moreno opened the new branch on Tuesday 3 November. He acted after receiving a fresh UCO report. The proceedings are secret, so the full case against each person is not public.

Those held included Ábalos's partner. A businessman who drove Pedro Sánchez during the 2017 PSOE leadership race was also detained. All six declined to give statements to officers. The judge is expected to call them later as suspects.

Investigators suspect organised crime, influence peddling, money laundering and tax fraud. These are allegations, and no finding of guilt has been made in this branch of the case.

Records sought from Adif and firms

UCO officers went to Adif's Madrid offices and asked for files on contracts under review. Adif, Spain's state rail infrastructure firm, said it handed over the material. It stressed that officers did not search its offices.

The contracts were put out to tender in 2018 and awarded in 2019. The work was finished between 2021 and 2022, when Isabel Pardo de Vera led Adif.

Officers also went to the Sevilla offices of construction group Azvi. The company said its managers gave the UCO the records it sought and were helping the inquiry.

Businessman Víctor de Aldama had alleged that Azvi paid kickbacks for contracts. Azvi president Manuel Contreras denied that claim when he gave evidence as a witness. He said the firm later hired Koldo García as a consultant for €6,000 a month after García left the ministry.

ABC reported a separate search at the Sevilla premises of Deplan Works. The court order allowed officers to seize records, phones, computers, cash and digital data.

A wider public works case

The new branch is linked to an older inquiry into suspected public works deals. That case also covers Ábalos, former senior PSOE official Santos Cerdán and former Adif chief Pardo de Vera.

Ábalos is serving a 24-year Supreme Court sentence from the separate mask-contract case. He has asked the Constitutional Court to annul that ruling. His defence says there is no independent evidence to support Aldama's account of alleged payments.

Source: 20minutos, El Correo, elDiario.es, La Vanguardia and ABC