UCO finds PSOE paid 43,225 euros to Leire Díez via shell companies, lawyer denies bribe plot

Payment trail leads from PSOE to Leire Díez via intermediaries

A new UCO report delivered to National Court judge Santiago Pedraz has quantified that the PSOE paid 43,225 euros to former militant Leire Díez, using companies linked to ex-Andalusian official Gaspar Zarrías and lawyer Ismael Oliver to conceal the origin of the funds. The investigators believe that these payments were part of a scheme coordinated by the party's former organisation secretary, Santos Cerdán, to sabotage judicial proceedings affecting the party and the circle of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

With all due caution, what seems to appear is that Leire Díez was indeed on a payroll, she received money punctually, her trips were paid for. She was certainly not just another militant, nor an investigative journalist, nor an author of a book documenting things.

The report, accessed by multiple Spanish outlets, reveals that the money reached Díez through a layered structure: first, the PSOE issued invoices to Zarrías's firm Zaño Sociedad Consultora and to Ismael Oliver's legal practice; then those companies transferred the sums to Díez's personal bank account at Kutxabank. The agents have now asked Judge Pedraz to expand the analysis beyond the six operating accounts of the party, after discovering a payment of 18,000 euros to media outlet Crónica Libre that did not originate from those accounts, suggesting additional channels exist.

Zarrías's consultancy and the Andalusian connection

Gaspar Zarrías, a historic PSOE figure in Andalusia who was already convicted in the ERE fraud case and barred from public office, signed a service contract with the regional branch of the party on 1 July 2024. Between August and November 2024, his company Zaño submitted four invoices of 7,500 euros plus VAT each to the PSOE, and simultaneously made four transfers of 4,000 euros to Díez, covering June to September 2024. The UCO highlights the "temporal proximity" between the party's payments to Zaño and the payments from Zaño to Díez. A separate fact emerged: the Andalusian PSOE, then led by former Seville mayor Juan Espadas, paid 9,075 euros to Zarrías's consultancy in September 2024, with an invoice that merely stated "fees for services rendered pursuant to the contract of 1 July 2024", without specifying the nature of the services. That payment coincided with the period when Díez was on the payroll of the consultancy.

The Oliver Group transfer

The second major conduit identified by the UCO is a one-off transfer of 27,225 euros made in February 2025. According to the investigation, the PSOE paid the same amount to Estudio Jurídico I. Oliver & Partners on 26 February 2025. Shortly afterwards, the limited company Oliver Gruppe, linked to lawyer Ismael Oliver Romero, sent 27,225 euros to Leire Díez. Oliver Romero had been the first defence lawyer for Koldo García, the former advisor to ex-minister José Luis Ábalos, in the corruption case that sent both to prison. The UCO sees this chain as further evidence that the funds originated in the party and reached the intended recipient through an intermediary firm. The PSOE's manager, Ana María Fuentes, and lawyer Oliver have been summoned to testify as suspects on 9 September.

Leticia de la Hoz weeps before the judge

Also on Tuesday, Leticia de la Hoz, the current lawyer for Koldo García, appeared as a suspect before Judge Pedraz and broke down in tears, denying all accusations. She is accused of offering a 250,000-euro bribe to businesswoman Carmen Pano to prevent her from confirming in court that she had handed over 90,000 euros in cash at the PSOE headquarters on two occasions. Pano testified on 29 June that the offer included 25,000 euros for her daughter's wedding, rent for five to seven years, and a 15,000-euro car for her driver, and that the emissaries said they came "on behalf of the party". De la Hoz dismissed Pano's account as lies motivated by a failed commission in a hydrocarbon deal and said, "Neither the PSOE nor anyone asked me to speak to her about the bags". She also invoked professional secrecy to avoid revealing who paid her for defending Koldo, while insisting she has never, "ever", received money from the PSOE.

For a lawyer, being charged is something very serious. How does one now restore my reputation as a lawyer?

Wider investigation and political impact

The UCO's request to examine additional PSOE accounts indicates the investigation may broaden. Analysts note that Judge Pedraz is conducting the inquiry with caution, in contrast to other judicial probes viewed by the government as politically motivated. The opposition has already seized on the findings, and the government itself, according to journalist Daniel Basteiro, is concerned about this case, with the prime minister having avoided qualifying it as a witch-hunt. The next key date is 9 September, when Fuentes and Oliver are due to testify in Madrid.