Four corrupt operations by the Leire-Fernández-Alonso trio to rig public contracts
The Public Prosecutor's Office and the UCO have documented five operations by the 'Hirurok' group to manipulate public tenders and obtain illegal profits from public companies such as Mercasa, Enusa and Forestalia.
Four corrupt operations by the Leire-Fernández-Alonso trio to rig public contracts
The Anti-Corruption Public Prosecutor's Office presented a complaint in December that revealed the operations of a network led by three individuals: Leire Díez, Vicente Fernández and Antxon Alonso. The group, which communicated through a chat called 'Hirurok' (in Basque, 'the three of us'), used their influence to bend administrative decisions in exchange for money. Investigators uncovered the scheme after analysing Alonso's telephone, linked to the Koldo case.
Mercasa: The gang learned that the public company for food wholesale markets wanted to relocate its headquarters and decided to seize the opportunity. Their objective was twofold: on the one hand, to inflate the repair budget of the current building with a false report to justify the move; on the other, to act as intermediaries in the search for the new premises. They secured the assignment and artificially inflated maintenance line items by €700,000. Díez travelled around the city to locate potential properties. The property transaction failed, but the network received €18,120 for the document. They also planned to take a 20 per cent commission on the transaction value.
Enusa: The intermediary had previously worked as head of communications at this state uranium company. On this occasion, the three acted as brokers to favour Acciona in the acquisition of an incinerator in Melilla and a treatment plant in Castellón. Fernández and Alonso exchanged messages about how to overcome legal obstacles by suggesting that Enusa should not sell the shares, but transfer them as usufruct. They commissioned a university professor to produce a report backing this approach. The payments were disguised as strategic advisory services through an external firm. The direct payment was €17,545.
Erri Berri (Avilés): The group offered itself to the Basque construction firm to sabotage a tender already awarded to a competitor. They advised on how to challenge the tender so that "the company would owe them something". After the first call was cancelled, they handled internal drafts before their official publication. The firm submitted an abnormally low bid that the investigated individuals ensured would be accepted. Fernández asserted that the chair of the appeals body was "aligned". "Conchita came through," he celebrated. The €400,000 profit was concealed as civil works in Pamplona.
Forestalia: The network acted in favour of this energy company in several ways. They facilitated public financing for its projects. "They have already asked us to help and push," Fernández noted in the chat. The agreed reward came to €200,000. There are multiple indications that they intervened in public contracts in exchange for financial gain. The UCO describes a suspicious corporate transaction: Alonso acquired several companies for €141,000 and, after obtaining licences, resold them to Forestalia for €6.8 million.
In addition to these operations, the UCO has identified three other payments to the group's circle, albeit with less conclusive evidence. The main shell company, Mediaciones Martínez, received more than €1.09 million during the period analysed.
Source: El Mundo
Source: El Mundo