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 occupies a central position within the ongoing inquiry. Spain’s National Court has officially summoned him as a suspect among the Tubos Reunidos executives, joining former Chairman Francisco Irazusta and former board member Jesús Pérez Rodríguez-Urrutia. Investigators are currently assessing whether a suspected influence network tied to the Hirurok Group—which authorities have linked to Leire Díez, Vicente Fernández, and Antxon Alonso—potentially operated to secure or enhance the terms of the company’s state bailout.
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 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.
Based on El Economista, the UCO has additionally asserted that López de las Heras engaged in talks with the faction connected to Leire Díez, maintaining that “the entire board knew” regarding such communications. Although that claim remains under judicial evaluation, confirmation thereof would substantially expand the business scope of the matter. Should discussions involving brokers have been recognized among the firm’s leadership circles, the inquiry might reach past isolated behaviors to scrutinize how Tubos Reunidos handled its dealings alongside SEPI as well as persons purportedly linked 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 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 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.
