PSOE’s legal storm: Nine cases closing in on Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez

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Officers from the Civil Guard’s Central Operative Unit (UCO) spent 12 hours at the PSOE’s national headquarters in Calle Ferraz on Wednesday as part of an investigation into the so‑called Leire Díez case.

The operation, ordered by National Court judge Santiago Pedraz, is seeking documents on alleged payments by the party to a network whose alleged aim was to obstruct judicial investigations affecting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s inner circle.

The judge considers a meeting held at Ferraz on 26 April 2024, in the middle of the “reflection period” announced by the prime minister, as particularly significant in the case.

According to the court order, the PSOE party is alleged to have allocated 178,000 euros to this alleged structure to discredit judges such as Beatriz Biedma, Mercedes Ayala and Juan Carlos Peinado.

Spanish Premier Pedro Sanchez speaks at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO headquarters.

Judge Pedraz has charged former Organisation Secretary Santos Cerdán, former deputy head of the Andalusian regional government Gaspar Zarrías and PSOE manager Ana María Fuentes and is investigating alleged payments to Leire Díez for her alleged interference with judicial proceedings. Díez was arrested in December 2025 and released on bail.

That operation was followed, in the same week, by former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero being named as a suspect in a criminal organisation and over influence peddling in the Plus Ultra case, as well as the start of the trial of David Sánchez, the prime minister’s brother, and former Extremaduran Socialist leader Miguel Ángel Gallardo.

The first case, now closed, concerns Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz. Appointed by Sánchez, he was suspected of using his position to influence matters in which he had a personal interest. It was resolved with a two-year suspension imposed by the Supreme Court. García Ortiz resigned a few days later.

He became the first Attorney General in Spain’s history to be convicted, after disclosing confidential data about Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s boyfriend. After his resignation he applied for the conviction to be annulled over the leaked email.

Cases involving the president’s inner circle

In April, judge Juan Carlos Peinado indicted Begoña Gómez, the prime minister’s wife, on charges of influence peddling, business corruption, embezzlement of public funds and misappropriation, after completing the investigative phase of the case.

The ruling also affects adviser Cristina Álvarez and businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés. Gómez is due to appear at a preliminary hearing on 9 June. This is the case that prompted Sánchez to write his well-known letter to the public in 2024, when he even publicly considered stepping down from the premiership.

The trial of the prime minister’s brother also began on Thursday. The Provincial Court of Badajoz is examining whether the hiring of David Sánchez as activities coordinator at the provincial council in 2017 was a post created specifically for him. Prosecutors have ruled that one of the offences is time-barred. The trial could run until the week of 15 June.

As for the Plus Ultra case, judge José Luis Calama ordered the freezing of Zapatero’s accounts and those of his daughters as part of an investigation into alleged illegal commissions linked to the airline’s public bailout, worth 53 million euros in 2021. The former prime minister has been summoned to testify on charges of money laundering, influence peddling, criminal organisation and document forgery, although his appearance has been postponed to 17 and 18 June.

The Koldo case

The irregular purchase of face masks during the pandemic has become the central focus of much of the judicial activity linked to the PSOE.

The part of the case directly affecting José Luis Ábalos was taken over by the Supreme Court because of his status as an officeholder with special legal immunity, while another branch of the case is continuing at the National Court, where Santos Cerdán, Víctor de Aldama and several businesspeople are also under investigation.

Two other cases stem from this main investigation: a separate strand looking into possible illegal financing of the PSOE through cash movements at Ferraz and the famous “chistorras”, and another focusing on the alleged rigging of public works contracts at the Ministry of Transport, which affects, among others, former Adif chair Isabel Pardo de Vera.

Legal sources warn that congestion at the National Court could mean that the investigative phase of several of these cases drags on for between three and five years.

On top of all this is the Hydrocarbons case, which is looking into VAT fraud and is linked to the Koldo network through businessman Víctor de Aldama.

With the legal cases mounting, Pedro Sánchez has asked to address a full session of Congress to report on the political situation, while the PP is testing the waters for a possible no-confidence motion.