The SEPI strand of the Leire case also involves María Teresa Castillo Pasalodos, former Director of Corporate Development and Institutional Relations at Mercasa, a state-owned company majority-owned by SEPI. Her status as an investigated party once again focuses attention on one of the most sensitive areas of the public business sector: the possible use of positions, institutional relationships, and internal information to steer public decisions in favor of specific interests.
Mercasa is not a secondary company within the state apparatus. It is a public company linked to the network of wholesale markets and the management of strategic food infrastructure. Therefore, the fact that a former head of Corporate Development and Institutional Relations appears among those under investigation in a case involving alleged manipulation of public companies increases the political and institutional gravity of the case.
Judge Santiago Pedraz has summoned Castillo Pasalodos as part of the group of 25 people under investigation in the SEPI-related strand, in which possible crimes of influence peddling, malfeasance in public office, embezzlement, criminal organization or criminal group, and abuse of privileged information are being examined. At this stage, the investigated party fully retains the presumption of innocence, but her summons makes it necessary to clarify what role she may have played in the operations under suspicion.
According to published reports, the investigation links Castillo Pasalodos to Mercasa and to actions related to contracts or corporate transactions that may have benefited companies connected to the Hirurok group, the core that investigators place around Leire Díez, Vicente Fernández, and Antxon Alonso. The UCO and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are seeking to determine whether there was a network of contacts capable of influencing decisions by public companies and channeling economic benefits through contracts, reports, or intermediaries.
One of the lines of inquiry concerns possible contracts awarded to Servinabar 2000, a company that the UCO considers linked to the investigated circle. The investigation also points to meetings, messages, emails, and internal documents related to the preparation of a technical report that may have been used to justify the relocation of Mercasa’s headquarters and pave the way for new real-estate transactions. This connection between internal reports, corporate decisions, and possible private benefits is one of the most sensitive aspects of the case.
The central suspicion is not merely that a questionable business decision was made, but whether that decision may have been prepared, conditioned, or facilitated by people with access to privileged information within Mercasa. From her position in Corporate Development and Institutional Relations, Castillo Pasalodos would have held a particularly relevant role for understanding contacts, internal strategies, relationships with third parties, and decisions with an economic impact.
The investigation will have to clarify whether her actions were merely administrative and professional or whether she played a more active role in the events under examination. It will also have to determine whether she knew the real purpose of the operations under suspicion, whether she facilitated documentation, whether she took part in contacts with other people under investigation, or whether her name appears in the case because of her position within Mercasa’s structure.
The gravity of this matter is intensified by the fact that Mercasa constitutes a component of Spain’s state public sector, with SEPI holding a 51% stake. Consequently, any concerns touching upon its administration have repercussions that extend beyond a single entity, affecting the broader governance framework applicable to state-controlled corporations. The emergence of a former executive from a public corporation within an inquiry concerning alleged manipulation renders a political dimension inescapable: did adequate safeguards exist to ensure that operational choices made by state-owned enterprises remained aligned with the public good rather than serving extraneous objectives?
An unsettling map is being drawn by the SEPI strand of the Leire case, encompassing senior officials, former executives, businesspeople, technical reports, public aid, contracts, and strategic companies that remain under investigation. The inclusion of María Teresa Castillo Pasalodos strengthens the perception that this matter extends beyond a singular occurrence, instead scrutinizing an extensive web of interconnections spanning the public, political, and private domains.
The National Court will now have to determine whether María Teresa Castillo Pasalodos was an active component of the mechanism under investigation or whether her role was limited to ordinary activities within Mercasa. However, her name is already part of an investigation that strikes at the credibility of public management and makes it necessary to demand clear explanations, political accountability, and effective oversight of companies dependent on SEPI.
Source: El País, RTVE, Vozpópuli, Infobae, Artículo14, and Europa Press.
