Spain's High Court widens graft inquiry to include PM's close ally

MADRID, July 10 - Spain's High Court placed Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's former chief of staff and postmaster general under investigation on Friday as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe, ordering police to seize and analyse his mobile phone data.

The move, outlined in a writ, is yet another blow for Sanchez, who in the past two years has seen several members of his Socialist Party (PSOE), cabinet and inner circle involved in various graft scandals. Last month, his former right-hand man was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

To date, none of the cases has named Sanchez, who came to power eight years ago by ousting a corruption-plagued centre-right government on the promise of cleaning up politics.

Juan Manuel Serrano served as one of Sanchez's top aides within his party between 2014 and 2018. When Sanchez became premier in July 2018, he named Serrano to head the postal service, keeping him in the job until 2023.

The writ showed Serrano is implicated in a suspected plot to destabilise judicial and police investigations affecting the PSOE. The focus is on text messages exchanged with Leire Diez, the group's alleged ringleader who served in a senior position in the postal service during Serrano's tenure.

Diez has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Serrano did not immediately reply to Reuters' request for comment.

A PSOE spokesperson said the investigation had to run its course and the party would fully cooperate with it.

In his writ, investigating judge Santiago Pedraz said Serrano and Diez "may have used public entities for their own benefit or that of third parties".

Poring over the messages "would help establish whether (Serrano) merely consented to an unlawful operation or whether his responsibility extended to instigating and directing it".

Vicente Fernandez, the former head of state holding company SEPI - which oversees personnel at the postal service - is also being investigated over Diez's appointment to the agency.

Fernandez has denied any wrongdoing. REUTERS