MADRID, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Spanish anti-corruption prosecutor Concepcion Sabadell concluded Tuesday that it had been "clearly" shown that the ruling People's Party (PP) of Mariano Rajoy had used a parallel system of accounts to syphon money taken from a cash-for-favors scandal and illegally finance the party.
Speaking after all of the witnesses had given their evidence in the ongoing "Gurtel" corruption trial; Sabadell said the existence of a so-called "B" parallel accounting system had been "clearly and overwhelmingly accredited in the PP."
The trial examines only the first half of the Gurtel scandal, which mainly affects the regions of Madrid and Valencia, in which businesspeople paid PP politicians bribes in return for lucrative public contracts.
Rajoy made history in July when he became the first serving Spanish prime minister to give evidence in a criminal trial and in which his party stood accused of obtaining benefits, albeit unknowingly.
"There is solid proof that the PP has benefited from criminal activity in the Town Hall of Majadahonda (just outside of Madrid): the PP, not the local authority," concluded Sabadell in her report.
She signaled former PP treasurer Luis Barcenas as a key player in the scandal, saying he obtained illicit funds "for his work as an intermediary in adjudications," and "theft of funds from the PP's B-accounts."
She adds that the former PP Mayor of Mahadajonda, Guillermo Ortega, obtained 1.6 million euros from supposed bribes and "has not given a reasonable explanation of its origin... nor provided documents to justify an operation."
Sabadell also concluded that Barcenas, who managed to accumulate 48.2 million euros in Swiss bank accounts in the year 2007, had obtained "funds of an illegal origin and hidden the benefits with false bills." (1 euro=1.18 U.S. dollars)
