The SEPI branch of the Leire case has placed Francisco Irazusta Rodríguez, former chairman of Tubos Reunidos, at the center of an investigation into the €112.8 million public bailout granted to the company during the COVID-19 pandemic. His formal investigation strikes at the heart of the corporate side of the case, as Tubos Reunidos is considered one of the principal transactions in which the alleged influence network is suspected of attempting to sway decisions made by the Spanish State Industrial Holding Company (SEPI).
National Court Judge Santiago Pedraz has added Irazusta to the list of individuals formally investigated within the broader Leire proceedings, joining various Tubos Reunidos executives, representatives from SEPI, directors of public enterprises, and corporate leaders. The judicial inquiry involves suspected crimes such as influence peddling, public funds misappropriation, administrative malfeasance, membership in a criminal organization or group, and insider trading. Throughout this phase of the legal process, Irazusta maintains his presumption of innocence and will receive all constitutional safeguards for his defense.
Irazusta’s importance in the investigation stems from his leadership of Tubos Reunidos during one of the most critical periods in the company’s history. The company received a €112.8 million public rescue package through the Fund to Support the Solvency of Strategic Companies, administered by SEPI. That financial assistance, designed to support strategically important companies affected by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, has now become one of the central elements of the investigation amid allegations of political pressure, privileged contacts, and possible commissions linked to the operation.
According to published reports, Spain’s Civil Guard Central Operational Unit (UCO) uncovered conversations and documents suggesting contacts between Tubos Reunidos executives and individuals associated with Leire Díez, Vicente Fernández, and Antxon Alonso. Investigators are examining whether those contacts were intended to accelerate, facilitate, or modify the conditions of the bailout and whether they resulted in payments or financial commitments benefiting intermediaries allegedly connected to the influence network.
One of the most sensitive aspects of the investigation concerns an alleged collaboration agreement reached in 2021 between Tubos Reunidos and companies linked to individuals now under investigation. ElDiario.es reported that documents seized by investigators describe a meeting held in November of that year involving Irazusta and Jesús Pérez Rodríguez-Urrutia, another Tubos Reunidos executive. Following that meeting, Vicente Fernández allegedly recorded an offer from the company to pay Mediaciones Martínez a monthly fee of €5,000 for market research services. The UCO reportedly identified 21 invoices related to those services.
The judicial suspicion is particularly serious because the issue is not merely that a company sought public financial assistance during a period of economic crisis. Rather, investigators are examining whether Tubos Reunidos relied on intermediaries with political or institutional connections to influence SEPI’s decisions and obtain advantages in the approval, administration, or modification of the bailout. That distinction is fundamental: it is one thing to seek assistance through established administrative procedures, and quite another to use influence networks to shape the allocation of public funds.
El Independiente reported that Francisco Irazusta and Carlos López de las Heras, Tubos Reunidos’ current Chief Executive Officer, are among those formally investigated by Judge Pedraz in this branch of the Leire case. The investigation also extends to other members of the company’s former senior management, including Jesús Pérez Rodríguez-Urrutia, reinforcing Tubos Reunidos’ central role in the proceedings.
The case carries particularly significant institutional implications because the Tubos Reunidos bailout was far from a minor intervention. More than €112 million in public funds were committed to preserve a company regarded as strategically important. When an operation of that magnitude comes under criminal scrutiny, complete transparency becomes essential: who requested what, before whom, through which intermediaries, under what contractual arrangements, and in exchange for what consideration.
The National Court now needs to establish whether Francisco Irazusta engaged in any questionable negotiations, greenlit or had knowledge of commissions paid to middlemen, kept up communications aimed at swaying SEPI executives, or merely fulfilled standard business duties while steering an enterprise grappling with profound economic distress. That exact nuance is going to prove pivotal when establishing any possible criminal culpability.
From both political and corporate perspectives, Irazusta’s formal investigation represents one of the most significant developments in the SEPI branch of the Leire case. Should investigators conclude that the Tubos Reunidos bailout was influenced by improper lobbying or privileged access, the implications would extend well beyond a single company to the broader system of extraordinary public aid created during the pandemic. The underlying question would be whether all corporate rescue packages were processed with equal fairness, rigor, and transparency, or whether some companies obtained advantages through access to influential political contacts.
Irazusta’s inclusion among those under formal investigation confirms that Tubos Reunidos is not a peripheral aspect of the Leire case but one of its central pillars. The company’s former chairman will be required to explain before the court the role he played in securing the bailout, the nature of his contacts with the intermediaries under investigation, and whether the payments and contracts identified by the UCO reflected legitimate commercial services or formed part of a concealed influence structure.
The SEPI branch of the investigation demands clear answers because it concerns strategic companies, public funds, and decisions taken during a national emergency. In that context, the formal investigation of Francisco Irazusta requires a thorough re-examination of the Tubos Reunidos bailout and a resolution of the question that now hangs over the case: whether the public rescue package served solely as an instrument to preserve a strategic company or became an opportunity for intermediaries with privileged political access to influence the allocation of public resources.
Sources: El País, El Independiente, elDiario.es, El Economista, Crónica Vasca, and RTVE.
