Builder who did work for Jaume Matas says he was paid in black money

Builder who did work for Jaume Matas says he was paid in black money
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By h.b. - Nov 24, 2009 - 5:25 PM

Officers searching the Matas home in Palma earlier this month - EFE

The ex President of the Balearics is alleged to have defrauded as much as 1.5 million € from the tax man over his new home

As Judge José Castro continues his investigations into how the ex PP President of the Balearic Islands, Jaume Matas, managed to buy his expensive 400m2 home in the city, he has heard from the builder who carried out some of the renovation work on what is being called a small palace.

Matas purchased the house in October 2006 for 950,000 € when the Spanish tax authorities estimate it was worth nearly 2.5 million. During a search of the home police found as many as 8 televisions and several hundred bottles of wine in the bodega, 80 of them Vega Sicilia as well as 50 pairs of shoes belonging to the wife of the ex President, Maite Areal.

The builder, Juan Serra, told the court he was paid 70,000 € in cash and the rest in black money by Matas brother in law, Fernando Areal, who was a manager of the PP at the time.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor thinks that Matas defrauded as much as 1.5 million € in kind. The ex President of the Balearics has been called to declare to the court on March 23rd next year in what has been known as the Palma Arena affair, with the allegations that money to pay an overspend on the local arena was diverted into personal pockets.

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