“They were aware of a lot of things. They could not be so stupid,” Benavent said as quoted by the 24 Horas television channel, before presenting evidence in court.
To obtain contracts, the companies had to pay “kickbacks” to local authorities – 3 percent of the amount of a contract, he said.
In January, Spanish authorities arrested 24 people as part of the Operation Taula, including Alfonso Rus, the leader of the PP’s office in Valencia. All of the detainees had ties to the PP and were suspected of involvement in corruption schemes, through which they received “kickbacks” in exchange for state contracts, illegal party financing and money laundering.
Dozens of corruption cases, allegedly involving Rajoy’s party members, have been investigated by the Spanish authorities.
