The SEPI branch of the Leire case has placed Félix Azcona Lacarra, Director of Internal Management at the State Industrial Participation Company (SEPI), under investigation. His involvement once again reaches the administrative core of the public body and reinforces one of the most sensitive lines of inquiry in the case: whether the alleged influence network had access to internal information, sensitive files, or contacts within SEPI itself.
Azcona ranks among the 25 people called in as suspects by Judge Santiago Pedraz within the inquiry looking into alleged wrongdoings concerning public corporate deals, state subsidies, and strategic business entities. The judicial probe is analyzing potential crimes encompassing influence peddling, judicial prevarication, embezzlement, criminal syndicates or associations, and the abuse of insider data. At this point, holding suspect status does not equate to a guilty verdict or liability, though it does mandate that he provide an account before the National Court regarding his specific involvement in the documents under review.
His position is particularly relevant because Internal Management is a key area within any public-sector business organization. Such a structure handles procedures, documentation, administrative processes, internal communications, and essential elements for reconstructing how decisions are processed. Therefore, Azcona’s inclusion on the list of suspects cannot be regarded as a minor detail: it affects an area responsible for internal oversight within SEPI.
According to published reports, Azcona worked under the structure of Miguel Ángel Santiago Mesa, SEPI’s Corporate Director, alongside other internal officials such as Rosario Martínez Manzanedo, who was linked to project evaluation. They all appear connected to the investigation because they allegedly participated, at different levels of responsibility, in files that are now being reviewed by the courts.
The case focuses on several transactions under suspicion, including the €112.8 million bailout of Tubos Reunidos; actions involving Mercasa and ENUSA; transactions related to the Parque Empresarial Principado de Asturias; and operations involving Forestalia. El País has reported that the National Court is investigating five transactions involving a combined €132.9 million in public aid, in which the alleged network reportedly obtained more than €750,000 in commissions.
The most sensitive issue surrounding Azcona is the suspected access to or circulation of internal information. Some media outlets have reported that investigators are examining allegedly fluid communications between SEPI officials and the organization’s former president, Vicente Fernández, considered one of the central figures in the group under investigation alongside Leire Díez and Antxon Alonso. The issue that must now be clarified is whether Azcona provided information, participated in administrative procedures, or in any way intervened in sensitive files, or whether his actions were limited to his ordinary duties within the organization’s administrative structure.
The investigation is not examining only final decisions, but also the process through which those decisions were reached. In a case involving alleged influence over public aid, it is just as important to establish who approved a transaction as it is to determine who prepared the files, who had access to the documentation, who reported on internal procedures, and who may have been able to open doors within the organization. This is where the position of an Internal Management director becomes particularly significant.
Azcona’s investigation reinforces the suspicion that the alleged network may not have operated solely from outside SEPI. If investigators consider it necessary to question internal officials at the organization, it is because they are attempting to reconstruct possible channels of communication and influence within the institution. This line of inquiry is particularly serious for institutional credibility: an influence network requires information, contacts, and opportunities. The courts will have to determine whether those elements existed and who may have provided them.
Politically speaking, the incident tarnishes SEPI’s reputation as a professional and well-regulated state body. The organization oversees public assets, monitors vital enterprises, and served a pivotal function in the financial rescues authorized amid the health crisis. Should its internal divisions have been subjected to coercion, unauthorized disclosures, or communications bypassing standard protocols, the issue would extend beyond potential criminality, simultaneously sparking serious worries regarding governmental oversight.
Félix Azcona will need to clarify before the judge the exact responsibilities he handled in Internal Management, which dossiers crossed his desk, the nature of his interactions with other co-defendants, and whether he ever communicated with Vicente Fernández or affiliates of the Hirurok conglomerate. Furthermore, establishing whether he could view or take part in the Tubos Reunidos dossier—a central pillar of the investigation—and if his procedures aligned with SEPI internal regulations remains essential.
His name is now linked to a probe concerning public funds, key enterprises, massive bailouts, and supposed kickbacks. Because the Director of Internal Management at SEPI features among the targeted individuals, demanding complete clarity surrounding the agency’s records, correspondence, and internal oversight has become essential.
The SEPI branch of the Leire case continues to trace a troubling cartography: public servants, entrepreneurs, former directors, technical personnel, and internal managers are all facing judicial investigation. Inside that map, Félix Azcona Lacarra constitutes a notably crucial element for establishing whether SEPI endured outside pressure or if, conversely, the alleged scheme discovered convenient pathways inside the institution to function. This constitutes the inquiry that the National Court must currently address.
Source: El País, Infobae, El Independiente, RTVE, Cadena SER, Diario de Navarra, and La Gaceta.
