Spanish judge orders new forensic cloning of ex-Sánchez aides phone in SEPI graft probe

A Spanish judge ordered a new forensic cloning of the mobile phone of Juan Manuel Serrano, former chief of staff to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and ex-president of Correos, as part of the ongoing "Leire case" investigation into alleged irregularities at state industrial holding SEPI. The cloning began Tuesday morning in a sealed room at the Audiencia Nacional and is expected to take eight to nine hours, with Serrano and his lawyer cited to return Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. to verify the process.
Serrano’s defense, led by attorney Bernardo del Rosal, had challenged the legality of an earlier cloning conducted by the Guardia Civil’s UCO unit in July, arguing it was performed without the presence of Serrano, his lawyer, or a court official, violating the judge’s instructions. Judge Santiago Pedraz subsequently nullified the initial extraction and ordered the new procedure. The phone, an iPhone 15 Pro Max, was seized by police on May 27–28 but not fully examined until Pedraz authorized it on July 10.
The investigation centers on Serrano’s alleged role in a network linked to Leire Díez, a former PSOE party official nicknamed *la fontanera* (the plumber), who is under scrutiny for suspected fraud, document forgery, embezzlement, influence peddling, and abuse of office. Pedraz’s July order cited 9,355 WhatsApp messages and 1,487 Signal messages between Serrano and Díez as evidence warranting further examination of his device. The judge deemed the measure “necessary and appropriate” to determine whether Serrano directed or facilitated the alleged scheme.
Serrano served as Sánchez’s chief of staff until 2018 and later led Correos until 2023. His legal team has also requested that any data extracted from the phone be expunged to include only messages related to the SEPI irregularities, according to *El Mundo* .
In a separate development, Romania’s Bucharest Tribunal rejected an insolvency petition filed by STB, the capital’s public transport operator, citing incomplete documentation. The ruling, issued Tuesday, can be appealed within seven days. Bucharest Mayor Ciprian Ciucu called the decision “unexpected” and stated that STB’s management had verified the submission seven times. Ciucu emphasized the financial strain of public transport, which consumes 34% of the city’s annual budget, and argued that insolvency was necessary to restructure the company without disrupting services or salaries .
Meanwhile, a Dutch court in The Hague released a 33-year-old man accused of threatening Princesses Amalia and Alexia of the Netherlands. Anne Romke van der H. had been in pre-trial detention since his January arrest at a Hague hotel, where police found two axes inscribed with the words “Alexia,” “Mossad,” and “Sieg Heil,” along with a diary entry referencing a “bloodbath.” Prosecutors sought compulsory psychiatric treatment but acknowledged insufficient evidence of intent to harm the princesses. The court scheduled its verdict for August 31 .
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