The UCO searches Ábalos's house in Valencia by order of the Supreme Court.

Agents are searching for documentation on civil works contracts.

Agents from the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard are searching the home of former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos in Valencia , by order of Supreme Court Judge Leopoldo Puente, who is investigating him for the alleged receipt of commissions - in cash and in kind - in exchange for contracts for medical supplies and public works during the pandemic.

Legal sources have confirmed to Europa Press that officers from the Civil Guard arrived at the property owned by the current member of the Mixed Group on Tuesday morning in search of documentation on civil works contracts. These investigations are believed to be secret.

In the report presented by the UCO last March on Ábalos's assets, to which this news agency had access, the former minister is listed as the owner of a property in Valencia purchased in 1987, of which he would be the sole owner "once the marital partnership with his then-wife was liquidated."

The search takes place seven months after the Supreme Court opened a case against Ábalos after receiving a request from the National Court judge overseeing the so-called "Koldo case," named after his former ministerial advisor, Koldo García.

This is the first time the high court has ordered a search of the former minister's property. He has already testified twice before the investigating magistrate to deny having received any commission.

Throughout the investigation, Ábalos has asked the judge to remove the UCO from the investigation. He accuses the officers of leaking information about his life, something that—in his opinion—“denotes a sense of malice and revenge.” Both the investigating judge and the Court of Appeals have denied his claims.

The former minister has also argued that he is the victim of a prospective investigation, but the Supreme Court's Appeals Chamber has upheld the case being handled by Judge Puente.