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The Gürtel case is a
political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, i ...
scandal in
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
, which implicates officers of the People's Party (PP), Spain's major
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
party, some of whom have been forced to resign or have been suspended. Gürtel is one of the largest corruption scandals in recent Spanish history, and there are related scandals, such as the Bárcenas case, which have received media attention in their own right. The case came to public attention in early 2009, but for the most part the suspects were not put on trial until October 2016. The investigative operation was given the name Gürtel in a cryptic reference to one of the principal suspects, Francisco Correa Sánchez (''correa'' as a Spanish word means ''belt'' in English, ''Gürtel'' in German). Correa is a businessman who cultivated links with PP officers. The Spanish police began to investigate his activities in 2007 after a
whistle-blower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...
, Ana Garrido Ramos, provided information regarding alleged corruption in the Madrid region. The accusations include
bribery Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Co ...
,
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictio ...
and
tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...
. They implicate a circle of businessmen led by Correa and politicians from the People's Party, although some of the evidence refers to participants by initials and nicknames such as "Luis el Cabron". The alleged illicit activities relate to party funding and the awarding of contracts by local/regional governments in
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
, the
Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...
and elsewhere. Early estimates of the money loss to public finances amounted to at least €120,000,000, while some of the alleged bribes paid in return were not particularly large (for example, items of luxury clothing). On 24 May 2018, the Audiencia Nacional, Spain's highest criminal court, found dozens of people, as well as the ruling People's Party, guilty of fraud, money laundering and illegal kickbacks.


Judicial process

A judicial investigation was started by
Baltasar Garzón Baltasar Garzón Real (; born 26 October 1955) is a former Spanish judge. Garzón formerly served on Spain's central criminal court, the '' Audiencia Nacional'', and was the examining magistrate of the ''Juzgado Central de Instrucción No. 5'', ...
, the
examining magistrate In an inquisitorial system of law, the examining magistrate (also called investigating magistrate, inquisitorial magistrate, or investigating judge) is a judge who carries out pre-trial investigations into allegations of crime and in some cases ma ...
of the Juzgado Central de Instrucción No. 5, the court which investigates the most important criminal cases in Spain, including terrorism,
organised crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
, and money laundering. Garzón had five suspects, including Correa, detained in February 2009. Garzón was suspended as a judge in 2010 pending his own trial on a charge of exceeding his authority with regard to a case unrelated to Gürtel (his investigation into
Francoist Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spa ...
crimes against humanity). This particular suspension was eventually overturned, but it was still in force when, in 2011, Garzón was given another suspension, this time pending trial for having violated lawyer-client privilege in the Gürtel case. (He had recorded conversations between detained suspects and their lawyers). The case was reassigned to Judge . In the summer of 2011 Pedreira set bail for Correa at €15,000,000, reportedly the second largest figure in Spanish legal history. Correa's legal team appealed, saying that the amount was not based on an objective assessment of their client's wealth, as Correa's access to some accounts had been blocked and there was uncertainty about how much wealth he held abroad. Correa was released on bail in June 2012 by which time Pedreira, who was suffering from
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms bec ...
, had been replaced by the third judge to handle the case Pablo Ruz. Ruz reduced the sum required to 200,000 euros, a reduction reflecting not only the accused's perceived ability to pay, but also the length of time he had been held on remand, which was approaching the maximum possible under Spanish law. The investigation took a long time for various reasons including the number of suspects and delays in receiving information from foreign banks. In 2014 Judge Ruz announced he was in a position to proceed against 45 suspects, after dividing the case into different "epochs", the first one relating to crimes allegedly committed in the period 1999-2005.After five years, judge wraps up portion of huge Gürtel corruption investigation
''El Pais''
However, Ruz had been taken off the case by the time the first part came to trial in 2016.


Gürtel in Valencia

A case involving the Valencian branch of the alleged network went to court relatively quickly. It was known in the press as the "suitgate" affair, as it involved allegations regarding suits supposedly given to prominent Valencian politician Francisco Camps. After a partial dismissal in 2009, the
Supreme Court of Spain The Supreme Court ('', TS'') is the highest court in the Kingdom of Spain. Originally established pursuant to Title V of the Constitution of 1812 to replace —in all matters that affected justice— the System of Councils, and currently regul ...
ordered it to be reopened. In 2011, Camps resigned as Valencian premier and leader of the Valencian Partido Popular in order to avoid standing trial while in office. Camps was found not guilty in 2012,"Camps y Costa, no culpables."
''El Pais'', 25 January 2012.
and the verdict was upheld on appeal. However, the case was seen as having damaged Camps' career. In January 2018, Mr. Costa, ex PPCV officer admitted that his party was financed with "dirty money". This admission became for the inquiry into "associations" of the provinces of Castellón, Valencia and Alicante.


2018 verdict

On 24 May 2018, several Spanish politicians and business-people, including Correa, his lieutenant Pablo Crespo, and former Spanish treasurer Luis Bárcenas, were convicted in the Gürtel case. Correa was sentenced to 51 years in prison while Crespo was jailed for 37 years and six months. Bárcenas, a close ally of Spanish Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
, received a 33-year sentence and a fine of €44m. Bárcenas's wife, Rosalía Iglesias, was jailed for 15 years, and Correa's ex-wife, Carmen Rodríguez Quijano, for 14 years and eight months. It was also ruled that the ruling People's Party had taken part in the kickback scheme since 1989. Of the 37 individuals charged, 29 were convicted while 8 were acquitted. Following this, on 1 June, Prime Minister Rajoy was ousted by a
vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or man ...
.


Media coverage

Prior to 2013, reactions to Gürtel often divided on party political lines, with the more conservative media downplaying the significance of the allegations. Spain's highest-circulation daily newspaper, centre-left ''
El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...
'', which traditionally supports the
PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...
, won a major press award (an Ortega y Gasset Award) in 2010 for
investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
relating to Gürtel. ''Público'', a newspaper with a more left-wing stance than ''El País'', also gave much coverage to the case. In 2013 the picture became more complicated, as the Barcenas case started dividing the electorate of the People's Party. While the conservative ''ABC'' kept toeing the party line, the centre-right ''El Mundo'' carried some of the major revelations about the case.


Corruption and transparency in Spain

It has been argued that the underlying problem is not a party political one, but rather a system which does not require transparency in the award of contracts. Spain occupied the 40th place in
Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civ ...
's
Corruption Perceptions Index The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index which ranks countries "by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys." The CPI generally defines corruption as an "abuse of entru ...
of 2013 (having dropped from 30th place). In 2016 Spain's first anti-corruption commission began work.


Bárcenas papers

January 2013 saw major revelations regarding the activities of Luis Bárcenas, the former treasurer of the Partido Popular. The Spanish justice system released information from the Swiss authorities regarding his financial dealings in Switzerland, and the press reported on alleged slush funds run for the benefit of the Partido Popular. The allegations of illegal party funding came initially from '' El Mundo'', Spain's leading center-right newspaper which is normally close to the Partido Popular. It alleged that secret donations had been used for under-the-table payments ("backhanders") to party officials. EFE
"Spain’s Ruling Party to Probe Swiss Bank Account Scandal."
in '' Latin American Herald Tribune''
Citing sources within the Partido Popular, the newspaper appeared to clear its current leadership, saying that the reported payments were made between 1989 and 2009. On 31 January, ''El País'' published facsimiles of handwritten accounts, allegedly from Barcenas' hand and detailing slush funds, which report a total of 250,000 euros illegally paid to former prime minister
Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
."Spain corruption scandal turns up heat on PM Rajoy."
Reuters, 31 January 2013
Castro, Iren

eldiario.es
The alleged funds came mostly from private
building construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...
companies, like
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and OHL; this, if the allegations are confirmed, would raise additional questions on Spain's building boom. While the PP filed a defamation lawsuit against ''El País'' (which it subsequently dropped), it took no action against ''El Mundo''. Attorney General Eduardo Torres-Dulce ordered the anti-corruption prosecutor to investigate any possible links between the alleged payments handed out to Popular Party (PP) officials and case filings in the Gürtel case. In 2014 ''El País'' commented that it is hard to draw a clear line between the two cases, Gürtel and Barcenas. However, the cases are being processed separately by the Spanish courts.


References


Further reading

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurtel case Politics of Spain Political scandals in Spain Corruption in Spain 2009 in Spain 2010 in Spain 2011 in Spain 2012 in Spain 2013 in Spain 2014 in Spain 2015 in Spain 2016 in Spain 2017 in Spain 2000s crimes in Spain 2010s crimes in Spain Trials in Spain