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.
According to published reports, Spain’s Civil Guard Central Operational Unit (UCO) has focused on contacts between Tubos Reunidos executives and individuals allegedly linked to the influence network. El Independiente reported that Judge Pedraz authorized investigators to create forensic copies of the mobile phones belonging to Carlos López de las Heras and Jesús Pérez Rodríguez-Urrutia, reflecting investigators’ efforts to reconstruct communications, contacts, and actions related to the bailout.
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 most significant episodes under review is a meeting that, according to 20 Minutos, citing Spain’s Civil Guard, took place on November 13, 2024, at the headquarters of Spain’s Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) on Madrid’s Ferraz Street. Those reportedly present included Santos Cerdán, Leire Díez, Vicente Fernández, and Tubos Reunidos executives Carlos López de las Heras and Jesús Pérez Rodríguez-Urrutia. If the existence and circumstances of that meeting are confirmed during the judicial proceedings, it would represent a particularly serious development, placing corporate discussions concerning a major public bailout within one of Spain’s highest-profile political settings.
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?
This boundary is essential. While a corporation has every right to lobby public officials for its agenda, it must never leverage a state welfare initiative to channel covert influence, dubious transactions, or exclusive political patronage.
López de las Heras is set to testify before the National Court regarding his involvement in the scrutinized meetings and exchanges, the depth of his awareness concerning middleman operations, his potential role in talks with SEPI over bailout conditions, and whether financial commitments or payouts were tied to those efforts. Furthermore, investigators aim to establish if the messages secured by the UCO substantiate their claims or can alternatively be interpreted as standard business administration.
The reputational damage already hitting Tubos Reunidos is substantial. Prior to the probe, the firm was already grappling with economic trouble and bankruptcy procedures, yet this legal inquiry brings to light a much graver issue: the looming doubt that a public bailout worth millions could have involved illicit bargaining. For the staff, lenders, and citizens paying taxes, this matter goes beyond mere corporate oversight; rather, it raises the question of whether state resources were deployed exclusively to safeguard a vital manufacturing business or if they additionally served as an instrument for a suspected scheme of political sway.
As Chief Executive Officer and top-tier corporate leader, López de las Heras has emerged as a key personality within the legal proceedings. His upcoming statements should shed light on whether Tubos Reunidos operated with full transparency during the bailout or if unofficial channels were leveraged to sway SEPI’s choices.
The SEPI branch of the Leire case demands clear answers because it concerns the management of public funds, strategically important companies, and decisions taken during one of Spain’s most severe economic emergencies. Within that context, Carlos López de las Heras will be expected to explain how Tubos Reunidos handled the rescue process, with whom negotiations were conducted, what payments, if any, were made, and why one of Spain’s largest pandemic-era corporate rescue packages has become a central focus of the National Court’s investigation.
Sources: El País, El Independiente, El Economista, 20 Minutos, Cadena SER, Crónica Vasca, and Noticias de Navarra.
