Latest news with #Cerdan
Reuters
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Spanish police enter ruling party HQ in corruption probe
MADRID, June 20 (Reuters) - Spanish police entered the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party on Friday to copy the emails of ex-senior party official Santos Cerdan, whose resignation amid a widening graft probe last week triggered a severe political crisis. Judge Leopoldo Puente, who is investigating allegations against Cerdan and former Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos, had ordered that the party let the plainclothes officers access its premises, although the Guardia Civil police and government officials said the move did not amount to a raid or searches. Government spokesperson Pilar Alegria and Transport Minister Oscar Puente also confirmed a similar visit to the ministry's roads department. The resignation of Cerdan, a close ally of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, on June 12, and subsequent revelations of potential misconduct, have destabilised the minority governing coalition. Sanchez has apologised publicly but rejected the opposition's calls for his resignation. In a tense grilling in parliament on Wednesday, he declined to say whether his name could crop up in the investigation. The Cerdan case is the latest and most severe of a series of scandals that has left Sanchez having to fend off calls from opponents for snap elections. Cerdan resigned from his seat in parliament and his post in the Socialist Party after a police report was sent to the judge. The report, seen by Reuters, provided transcripts of recordings of Cerdan, Abalos and the latter's former assistant Koldo Garcia discussing alleged kickbacks. Cerdan "appeared to be the person in charge of taking those alleged payments," the police wrote in the report. He has publicly denied any wrongdoing. The judge also asked the police to pore over bank accounts held by Cerdan, companies which allegedly paid bribes and five entrepreneurs. Around 500 bank accounts will be analysed, according to the writ. He also ordered state-owned railway infrastructure operator Adif and the transport ministry's roads department to hand over files over public works that were questioned in a preliminary police report. Abalos and Garcia will testify before the judge next week, while Cerdan will appear on June 30.
Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Spanish police enter ruling party HQ in corruption probe
Members of the media stand outside the headquarters of the Socialist Party, as Spanish police carry out a search inside as part of a graft case involving senior party members, in Madrid, Spain, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Albert Gea Law enforcement members of Central Operative Unit (UCO) leave with bags, outside the Socialist Party headquarters, during a search as part of a graft case involving senior party members, in Madrid, Spain, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Albert Gea Members of the media surround a car, after law enforcement members of Central Operative Unit (UCO) got into the car, outside the Socialist Party headquarters, during a search as part of a graft case involving senior party members, in Madrid, Spain, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Albert Gea A general view of the Socialist Party headquarters, as Spanish police carry out a search inside as part of a graft case involving senior party members, in Madrid, Spain, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Albert Gea MADRID - Spanish police entered the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party on Friday to copy the emails of ex-senior party official Santos Cerdan, whose resignation amid a widening graft probe last week triggered a severe political crisis. Judge Leopoldo Puente, who is investigating allegations against Cerdan and former Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos, had ordered that the party let the plainclothes officers access its premises, although the Guardia Civil police and government officials said the move did not amount to a raid or searches. Government spokesperson Pilar Alegria and Transport Minister Oscar Puente also confirmed a similar visit to the ministry's roads department. The resignation of Cerdan, a close ally of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, on June 12, and subsequent revelations of potential misconduct, have destabilised the minority governing coalition. Sanchez has apologised publicly but rejected the opposition's calls for his resignation. In a tense grilling in parliament on Wednesday, he declined to say whether his name could crop up in the investigation. The Cerdan case is the latest and most severe of a series of scandals that has left Sanchez having to fend off calls from opponents for snap elections. Cerdan resigned from his seat in parliament and his post in the Socialist Party after a police report was sent to the judge. The report, seen by Reuters, provided transcripts of recordings of Cerdan, Abalos and the latter's former assistant Koldo Garcia discussing alleged kickbacks. Cerdan "appeared to be the person in charge of taking those alleged payments," the police wrote in the report. He has publicly denied any wrongdoing. The judge also asked the police to pore over bank accounts held by Cerdan, companies which allegedly paid bribes and five entrepreneurs. Around 500 bank accounts will be analysed, according to the writ. He also ordered state-owned railway infrastructure operator Adif and the transport ministry's roads department to hand over files over public works that were questioned in a preliminary police report. Abalos and Garcia will testify before the judge next week, while Cerdan will appear on June 30. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Kepler Capital Remains a Hold on Interparfums (0IUJ)
In a report released on June 17, David Cerdan from Kepler Capital maintained a Hold rating on Interparfums (0IUJ – Research Report), with a price target of €38.00. The company's shares closed last Tuesday at €37.35. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter Cerdan covers the Industrials sector, focusing on stocks such as Elis SA, Quadient SA, and Wendel SE. According to TipRanks, Cerdan has an average return of -5.3% and a 46.97% success rate on recommended stocks. Interparfums has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of €46.00.
The Sun
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Embattled Spain PM dares opposition to file confidence motion
MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday challenged the conservative opposition to submit a no-confidence vote against his minority coalition government as a corruption scandal rocks his ruling Socialists. The case against a top Socialist official increases legal and political pressure on Sanchez, one of Europe's longest-serving leftist leaders whose inner circle faces several ongoing investigations. The main opposition Popular Party (PP) and far-right Vox have demanded that Sanchez resign after a judicial report published last week suspected Socialist heavyweight Santos Cerdan of accepting kickbacks in the alleged improper awarding of public contracts. After an hours-long crisis meeting with top Socialist officials at party headquarters in Madrid, Sanchez hit back at the two opposition parties, who do not command a parliamentary majority. 'They should present a no-confidence motion and tell parliament and the citizens what model of country they want for Spain,' Sanchez said. The report also implicated Jose Luis Abalos, a former transport minister and once a member of Sanchez's inner circle, and his ex-adviser Koldo Garcia. Cerdan, the Socialists' third-highest ranked figure, resigned as its organisation secretary last week. On Monday, he relinquished his position as MP and the party definitively expelled Abalos, who sits in parliament as an independent. Defending the Socialists' response to the case, Sanchez said his party was 'clean' and would not 'cover up the corruption that emerges in our ranks, however painful it may be'. Sanchez again ruled out quitting or holding early elections, saying that he would conduct discussions this week with the far-left and Basque and Catalan separatist parties who backed his government. The PP reiterated its demand for Sanchez's resignation and early elections, with party spokesman Borja Semper telling reporters that 'the only possible, dignified future is giving the Spanish people their say'. As well as the Cerdan affair, legal investigations are ongoing against Sanchez's wife, brother and the country's Socialist-appointed top prosecutor.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spain's Sanchez names new party leadership to limit damage from graft probe
MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez named four people to take over the leadership of his Socialist party on Monday as he sought to contain the damage from a corruption inquiry that threatens the survival of his fragile minority government. Sanchez named the team to replace Santos Cerdan, who stepped down after a Supreme Court judge called him to testify over accusations in a police report that he discussed taking payments in exchange for awarding public works contracts. Cerdan, who was no. 3 in the party's hierarchy, coordinating between different regions as its organisational secretary, has said he will testify to prove his innocence. "We are not perfect, but we are uncompromising when it comes to corruption," Sanchez said in a press conference in Madrid. The new team will remain in place until July 5, when the Socialists will hold a party congress where a permanent replacement for Cerdan will be named, Sanchez said. Last week, Sanchez resisted calls for a snap election after the allegations emerged, instead promising an overhaul of the party and an external audit of its accounts. However, even some allies have raised concerns that those measures were insufficient to restore public trust for a party that came to power in 2018 after a no-confidence vote ejected then-Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the People's Party when it was embroiled in the biggest corruption probe in Spain's democratic history. A number of senior Socialist figures have called for an extraordinary party congress, while a former regional leader suggested Sanchez should call a snap election. Sanchez will on Monday evening kick off a series of meetings with coalition partners and informal allies, starting with Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz, of the junior coalition partner Sumar, who on Friday said that Sanchez's pleas for forgiveness over the probe were not enough and called for a "reset" of the government. However, with Sumar's support in the opinion polls having slipped, she is unlikely to pull the plug on the coalition and risk an election. That position is similar to that of other allies who support the government and would fear that any confidence motion or fresh election might usher in the far-right Vox party as coalition partners to the conservative PP.
