Nine arrests in corruption raid at railway management firm ADIF

The Civil Guard raided the Madrid headquarters of railway infrastructure manager Adif on Monday, in search of evidence of embezzlement in connection with the construction of the AVE high-speed rail route in Barcelona.

The raid began early on Monday, and nine people have already been arrested, including managers at Adif and Corsan, a company that allegedly overcharged for the works.

So-called “Operation Yogui” is taking place simultaneously in Madrid and Barcelona, sources close to the investigation have told EL PAÍS.

The same sources revealed that one of the detainees is Jaime G. L, the infrastructure manager at Adif who was in charge of the project to lay new track at the station of La Sagrera, to the north of the city of Barcelona.

The amount of public money that was allegedly embezzled could be in the €6 million range

According to these sources, G.L. gave the go-ahead to Corsan’s construction work at a price that was much higher than what the company actually spent.

A press release issued by Corsan states that the company will cooperate fully with the authorities.

The amount of public money that was allegedly embezzled could be in the €6 million range, said the same sources.

While investigators are still trying to determine whether Adif executives received commissions for letting Corsan overcharge for its work, the latter apparently paid for a skiing holiday in Aspen, Colorado for G.L. and his family.

Operation Yogui began over a year a go following revelations by an entrepreneur who filed a complaint about alleged irregularities in the way the AVE project was being run. A judge ordered wiretaps of suspects’ conversations, which led to their arrests.