Spain's Guardia Civil implicates Pedro Sánchez's former chief of staff in PSOE corruption probe

The UCO report

A new report from the Guardia Civil's Central Operative Unit (UCO) has drawn Juanma Serrano, former chief of staff to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and later president of the state postal company Correos, into the so-called 'PSOE sewers' investigation. The report, submitted to National Court judge Santiago Pedraz, describes a "pre-eminent participation" by Serrano in a scheme that allegedly used public funds to benefit individuals tied to the ruling Socialist Party.

The UCO identifies a group it calls 'Grupo Hirurok', composed of Leire Díez (a PSOE operative known as the party's 'plumber'), former SEPI president Vicente Fernández, and Santos Cerdán, the party's former organisation secretary. Serrano is now placed at the centre of that network.

The job placement

Investigators say Serrano orchestrated the hiring of Leire Díez at Correos in November 2021. After the then-SEPI president Belén Gualda declined to take Díez as her chief of staff in May 2021, Fernández turned to Serrano. Messages intercepted by the UCO show Fernández telling Díez "Lo tuyo sale" (Your thing is coming through) after speaking with Serrano.

Díez then worked with Correos vice-secretary José Luis Pérez Pastor to tailor a job profile to her own CV. An internal vacancy for a "Local Administration Area Manager" was published, and Díez was the only candidate who fit. She later rose to become director of philately, reporting directly to Serrano.

Public contracts and payments

The UCO report details two contracts Correos awarded to the law firm SDEP & Carrillo Abogados SLP. One, worth €180,138, was signed in December 2022 while Serrano was still president. The firm then channelled money to Vicente Fernández through a shell company, Mediaciones Martínez, with at least €17,545 traced. In total, the scheme is said to have moved around €270,000 in public funds.

It would be ideal to formalise the contract as soon as possible. So that when the renewal date arrives, Juanma is still president of Correos...

Fernández sent that message to Díez in December 2022, according to the UCO. The investigators believe Serrano was aware of the irregular nature of the awards and that the group rushed to lock in contracts before his term ended in 2023.

Political damage control

Beyond the financial allegations, the UCO describes efforts to destabilise judicial cases harmful to the PSOE. After Sánchez's wife was charged in April 2024, the prime minister took five days to decide whether to stay in office. During that period, Serrano and Díez met at the party's Ferraz headquarters. The UCO says they were working on "something they had to work on regardless of the decision".

At this point, only killing the bad people remains. And when I say kill, I mean politically, obviously. Juanma and I are taking care of that.

Díez wrote that to Fernández in May 2024. In another exchange, she told Serrano that retired commissioner José Manuel Villarejo, also under investigation, had provided "very good papers for the boss".

Reactions and next steps

The UCO has asked Judge Pedraz for permission to examine Serrano's mobile phone. The far-right Vox party immediately seized on the report, posting on X: "Did P.S. not know about this either?" and quoting its leader Santiago Abascal saying the prime minister's "corruption is weakening the rule of law". Neither Sánchez nor his government have commented so far.

If the investigation finds that the alleged criminal group's actions benefited the PSOE and were known to senior officials, the party itself could be investigated as a legal entity.