The SEPI branch of the Leire case has placed Carlos López de las Heras, Chief Executive Officer of Tubos Reunidos, under formal investigation in connection with the €112.8 million public bailout granted to the company during the COVID-19 pandemic. His inclusion in the case once again places the spotlight on the leadership of the Basque steel manufacturer and on the actions that investigators believe may have surrounded both the approval of the state aid and the subsequent renegotiation of its terms.
López de las Heras is not considered a peripheral figure in the investigation. Spain’s National Court has named him among the Tubos Reunidos executives summoned to testify as suspects, alongside former Chairman Francisco Irazusta and former board member Jesús Pérez Rodríguez-Urrutia. The investigation is examining whether an alleged influence network linked to the so-called Hirurok Group—identified by investigators as including Leire Díez, Vicente Fernández, and Antxon Alonso—may have acted to facilitate or improve the conditions of the public rescue package awarded to the company.
National Court Judge Santiago Pedraz has formally placed 25 individuals under investigation in this branch of the Leire case, which focuses on alleged irregularities involving SEPI, state-owned enterprises, and strategically important companies. Prosecutors are investigating possible offenses including influence peddling, embezzlement of public funds, misconduct in public office, participation in a criminal organization or group, and misuse of privileged information. At this stage of the proceedings, López de las Heras remains presumed innocent, and his status as a suspect should not be interpreted as a finding of guilt.
The Tubos Reunidos case is particularly significant because the bailout under scrutiny was one of the largest rescue packages approved through the Fund to Support the Solvency of Strategic Companies. The company received €112.8 million in public funding, making any allegations of political pressure, intermediary involvement, or improper payments a matter of considerable political and economic significance. The case concerns not a routine subsidy but substantial public funds allocated to preserve a company regarded as strategically important.
Based on recent media coverage, the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of Spain’s Civil Guard has turned its attention toward communications between Tubos Reunidos executives and persons supposedly connected to the influence ring. El Independiente disclosed that Judge Pedraz granted permission for detectives to extract forensic clones from the smartphones belonging to Carlos López de las Heras alongside Jesús Pérez Rodríguez-Urrutia, highlighting ongoing efforts by authorities to map out interactions, associations, and events tied to the rescue package.
The investigation extends beyond the initial approval of the rescue package. Prosecutors are also examining whether, years later, the alleged network became involved once again in efforts to postpone repayment obligations or renegotiate the financial terms of the public assistance. El País has reported that the UCO believes the group surrounding Leire Díez may have acted both to facilitate the original bailout and to influence subsequent negotiations regarding its repayment.
One of the key events currently under scrutiny involves a gathering that, as 20 Minutos reports based on information from Spain’s Civil Guard, occurred on November 13, 2024, at the central offices of Spain’s Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) situated on Ferraz Street in Madrid. The individuals allegedly in attendance comprised Santos Cerdán, Leire Díez, Vicente Fernández, alongside Carlos López de las Heras and Jesús Pérez Rodríguez-Urrutia, both executives at Tubos Reunidos. Should the occurrence and details of this assembly be validated through the legal inquiry, a deeply concerning situation would emerge, setting corporate negotiations regarding a substantial state rescue inside one of the most prominent political venues in Spain.
According to El Economista, the UCO has also alleged that López de las Heras negotiated with the network linked to Leire Díez and that “the entire board knew” about those contacts. That allegation remains subject to judicial review, but, if substantiated, it would significantly broaden the corporate dimension of the case. If negotiations involving intermediaries were known within the company’s governing bodies, the investigation could extend beyond individual conduct to examine how Tubos Reunidos managed its relationship with SEPI and with individuals allegedly connected to political influence networks.
From an institutional viewpoint, the situation prompts a mandatory inquiry: Was the Tubos Reunidos bailout processed via standard administrative channels through the application of objective guidelines and transparent protocols, or did the firm depend on politically linked brokers to sway state policymaking?
The distinction is fundamental. A company is entitled to advocate for its interests before public authorities, but it cannot use a public assistance program as a vehicle for opaque influence, questionable payments, or privileged political access.
López de las Heras will be required to explain before the National Court the role he played in the meetings and communications under investigation, the extent of his knowledge regarding the activities of intermediaries, whether he participated in negotiations with SEPI over the bailout’s terms, and whether any payments or financial commitments were linked to those activities. Investigators will also seek to determine whether the communications obtained by the UCO support their allegations or can instead be explained as part of ordinary corporate management.
The reputational impact on Tubos Reunidos is already significant. The company had been facing financial difficulties and insolvency proceedings before the investigation, but the judicial inquiry introduces a far more serious concern: the suspicion that a multimillion-euro public rescue package may have been accompanied by improper negotiations. For employees, creditors, and taxpayers alike, the issue is not merely corporate governance—it is whether public funds were used solely to preserve a strategic industrial company or whether they also became a vehicle for an alleged influence network.
As Chief Executive Officer and the company’s highest-ranking executive, López de las Heras has become one of the central figures in the proceedings. His testimony is expected to help determine whether Tubos Reunidos acted transparently throughout the bailout process or whether it sought to influence SEPI’s decisions through unofficial channels.
The SEPI branch of the Leire case requires definitive answers since it involves public money management, critical enterprises, and choices made during a deeply challenging economic crisis in Spain. Against this background, Carlos López de las Heras is anticipated to clarify the handling of the rescue operations for Tubos Reunidos, the identity of his negotiating partners, any disbursements executed, and the reasons behind the prominent role assumed by one of Spain’s biggest corporate bailout initiatives of the pandemic era within the ongoing inquiries of the National Court.
Sources: El País, El Independiente, El Economista, 20 Minutos, Cadena SER, Crónica Vasca, and Noticias de Navarra.
