The National Court of Spain put Antonio Brufau, president of the Repsol oil company, and Isidro Fainé, former president of Caixabank, under formal investigation for the second time in the framework of a case of alleged espionage that has lasted a decade.
Last year, the investigating judge Manuel GarcÃa Castellón dismissed the investigation into Brufau, Fainé, Repsol and Caixabank, but three different magistrates decided on Monday to accept the resources of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the former president of the construction company Sacyr and the left-wing political party We can.
Caixabank said in a statement that it is convinced that these proceedings will lead to a new dismissal decision and that it would continue to cooperate with the judicial authorities.
The Caixabank Foundation, which Fainé chairs, declined to comment on his behalf.
Repsol did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has already promised to cooperate fully with judicial authorities.
Fainé, Brufau and the companies have previously denied any wrongdoing.
The court is investigating whether Repsol and Caixabank hired a security company belonging to former police chief José Manuel Villarejo to spy on Luis del Rivero in 2011 and 2012, when he was president of Sacyr.
The court is trying to determine whether Repsol and the bank, which then had a stake in the oil company, hired Villarejo to help them reject a takeover bid for Repsol by Sacyr and Mexico’s state oil company Pemex.
Both Repsol and Caixabank previously promised to cooperate fully with the judicial authorities.
According to the Spanish judicial system, formal charges cannot be filed until the first phase of the investigation has been completed and being investigated does not necessarily lead to formal charges.
The investigation is part of a wider investigation, with Villarejo at the center, which has shaken the Spanish business sector, causing some reputational damage but with no clear impact on business so far.
