The SEPI strand of the Leire case has brought José Ramón Sempere Vera, who served as president of Mercasa between 2018 and 2024, into investigative focus. During this crucial timeframe, numerous operations that are presently under scrutiny by Spain’s National Court took place. His indictment redirects attention toward governance practices within state-owned enterprises and the potential exploitation of their resources to advance private agendas via personal relationships, commercial agreements, or access to confidential data.
Mercasa is a public company majority-owned by SEPI and linked to the network of wholesale markets and strategic food infrastructure. For that reason, the presence of its former president in a case involving alleged manipulation of public companies is no minor matter. It directly affects confidence in the management of state-owned entities that handle resources, contracts, and decisions of general interest.
Judge Santiago Pedraz has included Sempere among the 25 people under investigation in the SEPI-related strand, a branch of the case examining possible crimes including influence peddling, embezzlement, malfeasance in public office, criminal organization or criminal group, and abuse of privileged information. According to published reports, the investigation covers operations linked to Tubos Reunidos, ENUSA, Mercasa, Forestalia, and other entities within the public business sector.
Particular attention has been paid by investigators to José Ramón Sempere and María Teresa Castillo Pasalodos, both of whom held positions as his deputy at the public entity Mercasa. The Prosecutor’s Office aims to establish whether certain determinations or initiatives were undertaken at Mercasa that could have advantaged firms associated with the suspected network being examined. Among the areas of concern are procurement agreements, administrative documentation, and business dealings that might have functioned to generate commercial prospects for organizations tied to those allegedly involved in the operation.
What makes this case particularly significant is that Mercasa appears to function as far more than a peripheral entity, positioning itself instead as a pivotal player within the investigation’s scope. Authorities are looking into whether certain transactions might have been shaped by intermediaries maintaining connections to Leire Díez, Vicente Fernández, and Antxon Alonso—individuals suspected of wielding influence over governmental determinations in return for financial compensation. The UCO has flagged this collection of transactions as potentially problematic, particularly regarding subsidies and agreements involving state-owned enterprises and organizations answerable to SEPI.
During his tenure as president of Mercasa throughout the investigated period, Sempere must provide clarification regarding his awareness of the decisions under scrutiny, the extent of his involvement in the company’s internal processes, and any potential interactions with persons or entities connected to the suspected influence scheme. The central legal inquiry will focus on establishing whether his actions remained confined to routine administration of the state-owned enterprise or if he may have assumed a significant position in purportedly improper dealings.
From a political standpoint, his indictment is particularly uncomfortable because it adds another former head of a state-owned company to the map of suspicions already affecting SEPI, ENUSA, Tubos Reunidos, and Forestalia. The case paints a scenario in which the boundary between the public and private spheres appears dangerously blurred, with businesspeople, former executives, public officials, and figures close to the Socialist sphere under judicial scrutiny.
The investigation also requires a close examination of Mercasa’s internal controls. If the contracts, reports, or corporate decisions were adopted according to technical criteria, they will have to be properly documented and explained. If, on the other hand, pressure, preferential treatment, or privileged access to information is established, responsibility cannot stop with the intermediaries: it must also reach those who had decision-making or supervisory authority within the public company.
The SEPI strand of the Leire case continues to expand in scope and leaves an increasingly difficult question to avoid: did public companies operate as instruments serving the general interest, or were they vulnerable to a network of influence, commissions, and favors? In the case of Mercasa, José Ramón Sempere will have to provide the courts with explanations about his role during the period now under scrutiny.
Source: El País, RTVE, Infobae, Vozpópuli, elDiario.es, and 20 Minutos.
