Corruption in Spain
[11] The period 1598 to 1617 in which Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, 1st Duke of Lerma held the government on behalf of Philip III was one of the most notoriously corrupt of Spanish regimes.
It was infamous because of the self-enrichment activities of his crony bureaucrat, Pedro Franqueza, his secretary, Rodrigo Calderón, Count of Oliva and the Duke of Lerma himself.
Speculation in the production of salt, construction of railways and even the illegal slave trade, which also involved Ramón María Narváez, 1st Duke of Valencia.
During the war, agricultural and industrial production collapsed and the black market - called Straperlo in memory of the homonymous famous scandal[13] - acquired great importance.
After some three decades the younger 'democracy generation' of jurists began to investigate issues (in violation of the Pact of forgetting) that had been 'overlooked' by the early reformers in pursuit of creating a peaceful and lasting state.
In 1987 a judge in his early thirties, Baltasar Garzón led an investigation which led to the conviction of a former (Socialist) Interior minister, who had adopted a clandestine policy of state terrorism via operations of the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL), - a collection of criminal gangs who (formerly on the covert behalf of the Falange)(1937–1975) were still fighting Franco's dirty war against the Basque separatist ETA movement.
In 1983 it had become very large (allegedly because it was linked to Opus Dei) and so debt-ridden that it was nationalized by the socialist PSOE government of Felipe González "in the public interest".
RUMASA was present in the following sectors: Following the nationalization of his empire Ruiz-Mateos fled to London and started a series of legal cases to recover some of his seized assets.
The High court eventually received a total of 165 claims from Ruiz-Mateos, and eventually resolved a "fair price" settlement (although the family got nothing) Twelve years later in 1997 (shortly after the People's Party government of José María Aznar took power) the High court absolved Ruiz-Mateos from the criminal charges, and in 1999 also the civil actions, so that his bail bonds were returned.
Wine and beverages include Los Conejos & Gabín Garres liquors, rum, rum-punch, sherry, brandy, and other related products.
In 1997 the People's Party government of José María Aznar announced the sale of the nation's remaining minority stake (golden shares) in the Telefónica telecommunications company and the petroleum group Repsol YPF.
Initial investigations were conducted in Madrid, Valencia & la Costa del Sol by the notable Spanish National Court Judge Baltasar Garzón, an examining magistrate serving the Juzgado Central de Instrucción No.
Although Manos Limpias was party to the initial process, but as the case focussed on wayward politicians they brought an action against Garzón for investigating Francoist atrocities, which caused delay and confusion for Gürtel as Garzón was suspended for three years pending his eventual acquittal in February 2012, whereupon he was charged and convicted of a completely different crime connected to Gürtel: that of ordering the interception of communications between powerful construction company directors accused of bribing high officials and their lawyers, who were suspected of money laundering.
Barcenas then used this slush fund to pay extra salaries of between 5000 - 15,000 Euros to party leaders each month, including Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his deputy María Dolores de Cospedal.
[24] On 27 June 2013 High Court Judge Pablo Ruz ordered former Popular Party (PP) treasurer Luis Bárcenas held in custody without bail until his eventual trial.
On 19 March 2013, as a result of a police operation, Operación Heracles, the examining magistrate, Mrs Mercedes Alaya, ordered the arrest and detention of 20 people who had held significant positions in society.
The former president of the Baleares region, Jaume Matas (Partido Popular), received a six years jail sentence, and other aspects of the case are still under investigation.
Instituto Nóos was a Foundation (nonprofit) also known as Strategic Studies Association Sponsorship and Patronage and Noos Institute of Applied Research.
Apparently it solicited and accepted huge payments from public bodies for major sports promotional activities which were either trivial or never started.
Its directors were Diego Torres Pérez and former handball star Iñaki Urdangarin, Duke of Palma the son-in-law of the Spanish King, who also ran a consultancy with his wife, the princess Cristina de Borbón y Grecia.
In 2009 the director of the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Fèlix Millet Tusell was accused of systematically raiding the coffers of this public body and confessed to embezzling 3.3 million euros.
The former CDC treasurer Daniel Osàcar was sentenced to 4 years 5 months in prison and fined €3.7 million for influence peddling and money laundering.
On 11 June 2012, the young political party, Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) filed a lawsuit against the directors of Bankia and its main subsidiary for alleged fraud, misappropriation, falsification of financial statements in connection with corporate crime, mismanagement and scheme to alter the price of assets.
Also called as witnesses were a former Governor of the Bank of Spain, Miguel Angel Fernández Ordóñez, the president of the National Securities Market, Julio Segura [es], and the main author of the Bankia audit conducted by Deloitte, Francisco Celma.
The court dismissed a request to extend the complaint to four additional Bankia directors who took office after the company was listed on the stock exchange.
