Mariano Rajoy denies any illegal funding of the PP

Mariano Rajoy denies any illegal funding of the PP
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By h.b. - Oct 7, 2009 - 6:48 PM
Speaking finally about the Gürtel case, the Partido Popular leader said the corruption had been used against the PP

Mariano Rajoy at a budgetary meeting on Wednesday with Ana Mato, Vice Secretary of Electoral Organisation for the PP - EFE

Following Tuesday’s release of the case summary in the Gürtel corruption affair, Partido Popular leader Mariano Rajoy has finally spoken about the subject.

Rajoy said that the PP would act against those who had done what they should not have done, saying the PP would never look the other way. Rajoy considered that the case summary documents showed that there was no irregular funding of the party, more that there had been people who had taken advantage of the party, with the PP leader claiming that the party was the victim and adding that most party members were honourable people.

However Rajoy’s declarations on Wednesday were weakened later in the day when the party General Secretary, María Dolores de Cospedal claimed that the PP had already taken the action needed in the case. ‘You can’t ask for more’, she said.

And in another brief statement released to the press the PP said that it believed the Number Two in Valencia, Ricardo Costa, and was ‘satisfied’ by his explanations in the face of allegations that his Infiniti FX50S car had been arranged by the corrupt network. Costa said that a personal loan had been arranged by his parents.

The case summary implicates a total of 17 politicians linked to the PP and claims that they collected 5.5 million € between them in cash and in kind, according to the National Police’s Economic and Financial Crime Unit. Over a million of that has been traced to the ex PP national treasurer and current PP Senator, Luis Bárcenas, according to the police.

The case summary also reveals that the businessman at the centre of the case, Francisco Correa, who appears to be the owner of some 30 companies involved, some of which are based in financial havens, has made no income tax return to the Spanish Hacienda since 1999.

El Mundo reports that the summary reveals that Francisco Correa spoke of a ‘servicio de chicas’, a ‘girls service’, to PP politicians in Madrid. El Mundo reports that he spoke of councillors at a fiesta in a villa belonging to Bernabé Cano, the Mayor of La Nucia, Alicante, where there were ‘5 impressive women’ from Eastern Europe, and that all the councillors were completely naked, each one with a girl, and some taking the women off to their room.

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