Juan Manuel Serrano, former chief of staff to Pedro Sánchez, has requested the return of his phone seized in a Spanish court corruption probe.
Serrano submitted a formal petition to Santiago Pedraz, an investigating magistrate at Spain's Audiencia Nacional high court, demanding the return of his iPhone 15 Pro Max. The mobile device was seized by officers from the Guardia Civil's Central Operative Unit (UCO) in May and underwent a second data extraction process earlier this week.
The former political adviser, who also previously served as the president of Spain's national postal operator Correos, filed the written request following the completion of data cloning operations. In the court document, Serrano asked for the phone to be handed back after officers finished copying its contents and deposited the physical handset at Audiencia Nacional premises in Madrid.
Serrano based his petition on statements from police investigators, who confirmed to him that the device was no longer required for their inquiries. The officers are investigating an alleged network aimed at destabilizing judicial and police probes into the governing Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and people close to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Legal appeal against phone extraction
Legal sources familiar with the case confirmed that Serrano's defense team, led by criminal attorney Bernardo del Rosal, will appeal Judge Pedraz's decision to authorize the second police search. The defense plans to challenge the magistrate's rejection of their earlier objections before the Criminal Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional, which acts as the higher court above Pedraz.
The Criminal Chamber will review whether to uphold or void the decisions made by Pedraz, the presiding magistrate at Central Investigative Court Number 5, regarding the technological search of Serrano's communications. Defense lawyers intend to advance the same legal arguments presented in previous court filings.
Serrano previously served as a close adviser to Pedro Sánchez during his leadership of the PSOE before being appointed to head Correos. The Audiencia Nacional is Spain's high court responsible for investigating major financial crimes, political corruption, and organized crime networks across the country.
Police encounter on Ponzano Street
According to documents submitted to the court, UCO agents intercepted Serrano on May 27 near Ponzano Street in Madrid. Officers informed him that he was under investigation, read him his constitutional rights, and asked for his mobile phone, PIN, and access code, though he was not placed under arrest during the interaction.
Serrano's defense argues that investigators confiscated the iPhone 15 Pro Max without an express judicial warrant. His legal team also asserts that the investigating judge had not issued an order to formally notify Serrano of his new procedural status in the case, which centers on a broader plot allegedly directed by Santos Cerdán with assistance from Leire Díez.
Following Serrano's formal indictment on July 10, UCO officers cloned the contents of the phone on July 14 and July 15. However, neither Serrano nor his attorney was present during the extraction, despite a judicial order that explicitly made their attendance a mandatory condition for the procedure's legal validity.
Judicial ruling on police error
The judicial police attributed the absence of Serrano and his lawyer to an error. Judge Pedraz subsequently summoned Serrano and his counsel to court to verify the initial copy and confirm the identity of the mobile terminal. During that hearing, the magistrate opted not to include the first police extraction in the official court record and ordered a new cloning operation to take place at the court in the presence of the defense.
At the hearing, Pedraz evaluated written objections filed by Serrano's defense. Serrano's legal team demanded the immediate return of the device and a complete ban on further police access, arguing that the second extraction could not validate a procedure that was legally flawed from the beginning.
Pedraz also denied a secondary request from the defense to hold a formal hearing to assess whether the second extraction was necessary and proportionate. In a written ruling, the judge accepted the police explanation of an involuntary error, noting that Spanish law does not mandate the presence of a device owner during extractions and that he had added the requirement solely to provide enhanced procedural guarantees.
