UCO Reveals Details of Leire Díez's Contacts with Villarejo in Kitchen Case. UCO uncovered meetings between Leire Díez, Villarejo, and his lawyer. The parties discussed exchanging information on politicians and possible concessions in criminal proceedings. The focus is on attempts to influence investigations.
In Madrid, the investigation into attempts to influence court proceedings against former commissioner José Manuel Villarejo is ongoing. According to UCO materials, former Socialist Leire Díez played a key role in the new episodes. Investigators say she offered Villarejo help with his criminal cases in exchange for compromising information about prominent politicians in the country.
According to the UCO report, Díez met several times with Villarejo and his lawyer. One of these meetings, according to investigators, was organized shortly after a complaint was filed against the wife of the current prime minister. During the meeting, a document titled 'LD-Planteamientos' was discussed, in which the two parties agreed on the terms of the exchange: Díez promised assistance in reducing the charges against Villarejo, while in return she was interested in materials on Mariano Rajoy, María Dolores de Cospedal, Jorge Fernández Díaz, and other members of the People's Party. Díez also requested documents related to the PSOE and Podemos.
Investigators note that Díez tried to arrange a meeting between Villarejo's lawyer and then-Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz. However, according to the lawyer himself, this meeting never took place. The case files include messages in which Díez assures she is working to resolve the issue and discusses with the lawyer possible scenarios for reducing Villarejo’s sentence — including a minimal term and preserving part of his assets.
UCO notes that in the correspondence between Díez and Villarejo, they discussed details about the transfer of information, as well as disagreements over the effectiveness of the measures being taken. In one of the messages, Villarejo expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of progress, to which Díez replied that she was continuing her work and asked for more time. Case files also mention that Díez maintained contacts with then-PSOE Organization Secretary Santos Cerdán, whom investigators consider one of the coordinators of the scheme.
An important part of the investigation was the document “ACUERDO V”, found with Díez. It outlines a proposed plan for a meeting between the “client”, Díez, and a representative of the General Prosecutor’s Office. The document stipulated that Villarejo would plead guilty in several cases, but without serving a real prison sentence, and would pay a fine while retaining part of his assets. In exchange, he would offer the Prosecutor’s Office assistance in other cases and hand over materials on key figures among politicians and security officials.
Despite Díez’s active attempts, according to investigators, there was no significant impact on the outcome of the Kitchen case. Villarejo remains the main defendant and faces up to 19 years in prison for participating in an operation linked to the illegal surveillance of the former treasurer of the People’s Party. In one message, Díez emphasized that her goal was “to cleanse the state of corruption,” and also promised Villarejo’s lawyer support in their shared fight for “honest patriotism.”
The context of the Villarejo case remains one of the most discussed topics in Spanish politics in recent years. Questions about the influence of political connections on judicial processes are regularly raised in the media. For example, earlier the country actively discussed Alberto Aznar's calls for new elections amid corruption scandals, which was examined in detail in the article about the authorities' response to demands for a change in power.
For reference: UCO (Unidad Central Operativa) is a unit of the Civil Guard specializing in the investigation of complex corruption and economic crimes. Operation Kitchen became one of the largest anti-corruption stories in recent years, and Villarejo's name appears in several high-profile cases involving politicians and businesses.
