Resignations and another arrest as the P.P. corruption scandal continues

Resignations and another arrest as the P.P. corruption scandal continues
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By h.b. - Feb 10, 2009 - 8:02 AM
There are allegations that backhanders were paid to Partido Popular councils to obtain tenders

Alberto López Viejo at his swearing in as Councillor for Sport, with Esperanza Aguirre looking on - EFE

There has been another arrest and a spate of resignations from the Partido Popular in the latest corruption scandal which broke with five initial detentions on Friday.

As the National Court Judge, Baltasar Garzón, started to question those arrested on Friday and continued with his investigation, news came that the man responsible for the Valencia branch of the Special Events company, Álvaro Pérez Alonso, has also been arrested. That is the company managed by Francisco Correa, the main accused in the investigation, and the Valencia branch goes under the name of Orange Market.

The new arrest was ordered after the Judge had taken the statements from Correa and two others, Antoine Sánchez and Pablo Crespo.

Orange Market won the tender from the Valencia Tourist Board to design, assemble and dismantle the Valencia stand at last month’s FITUR tourist fair in Madrid. The Councillor for Tourism in Valencia, Angélica Such, has revealed Orange Market won the contract despite being the most expensive tender of the six which applied.

Meanwhile in Madrid the PP leader of the regional government, Esperanza Aguirre, has sacked the region’s Councillor for Sport, López Viejo, because of the corruption allegations. He was the man who had organised the party’s rallies in Madrid over the past few years, and dealt with many of the companies taking part in such rallies which are at the centre of the corruption allegations. Aguirre said that López Viejo had not carried out any irregular acts.

Aguirre has also accepted the resignation of the ex Mayor of Majadahonda, Guillermo Ortega. He is the current manager of the Puerta de Toledo shopping centre in the capital. Aguirre said that she had accepted his resignation so that he could ‘better defend his interests’ outside Government.

An urgent meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee has been called.

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