The investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding the PSOE headquarters in Madrid has widened. Businesswoman Carmen Pano told National Court judge Santiago Pedraz that she was offered money to change her testimony about delivering €90,000 in cash to the party’s headquarters on Calle Ferraz. Pano has said she made the delivery on the instructions of businessman Claudio Rivas. The alleged payment remains under judicial examination and has not been established as a court finding.
Information from Pano’s account, the lawyer representing Koldo García offered her money and said she was acting on behalf of someone within the PSOE to help former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and his former adviser. The lawyer denied to the Guardia Civil’s Central Operative Unit (UCO) offering €50,000 to persuade Pano to retract her account. Investigators are assessing the conflicting statements, including the alleged offer and its purpose.
Reporting links the €90,000 allegation to a wider line of inquiry involving Rivas and a rental-with-option-to-buy arrangement for a chalet in La Alcaidesa, Cádiz, allegedly connected to Ábalos. Pano’s account is part of the broader Koldo affair, which includes scrutiny of alleged payments and possible financial benefits involving Ábalos and García.
Pedraz is also leading proceedings involving former PSOE Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán, former socialist member Leire Díez, businessman Javier Pérez Dolset and others. Investigators are examining whether an organized structure sought sensitive information from judicial and law-enforcement officials, as well as witnesses, and whether it sought to discredit investigators or obstruct politically sensitive proceedings. These remain investigative allegations, not findings of criminal liability.
The case has widened from alleged irregularities tied to public contracts and payments to include possible attempts to interfere with judicial proceedings. The UCO continues to gather evidence, while the court examines whether the alleged offer to Pano is connected to the wider network under investigation. No final judicial determination has been made on the alleged witness-interference claims.
The PSOE, or Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, is one of Spain’s major political parties. Its headquarters on Calle Ferraz is basic to Pano’s account, which investigators are considering alongside other strands of the Koldo affair. The case’s implications will depend on the evidence assessed by the court and any subsequent judicial decisions.
