Correa confesses in the final Gürtel trial, the plot that brought down Rajoy.

San Fernando de Henares"I recognize them [whose actions he is accused of]," stated businessman Francisco Correa, leader of the Gürtel case in the latest trial on the plot that began this Monday at the National Court. This is the main cause of a case that led to Pedro Sánchez's successful motion of censure against Mariano Rajoy in 2018, following the ruling in the first phase of the Gürtel case that convicted the PP as the party responsible for profit. The National Court sentenced businessman Correa to 51 years in prison for leading the scheme of commissions to PP politicians in exchange for contracts with companies in its network, but also sentenced the party's former treasurer, Luis Bárcenas, to 33 years in prison, and the PP as a legal entity.

Now Correa and his right-hand man, the former secretary of the Galician PP's organization, Pablo Crespo, in addition to around twenty other defendants, are once again accused. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is seeking 77 years in prison for both ringleaders for alleged crimes against the Public Treasury for concealing assets and laundering ill-gotten gains. However, both Correa and Crespo are arriving at the trial after seeking a deal with the Prosecutor's Office to obtain a reduced sentence in exchange for admitting to the crimes they are accused of. At the beginning of his interrogation, the ringleader confessed that he has never paid taxes in Spain.

In the document sent to the National Court, to which the Efe news agency has had access, Correa admits, for example, that he had money hidden mainly in Switzerland and that at one point he tried to regularize their situation, but that Ramón Blanco Balín, the insured, protected them with Soleado, which, he said, was used by personalities such as King Juan Carlos I when he hid money in Switzerland. After 10 years in prison, Correa allowed €20.7 million to be released to cover civil liability.

Aside from the 2018 ruling, over the past few years there have been a dozen trials related to this scheme, and the judge has confirmed that from 1999 to 2009 this network manipulated public tenders to profit through duplicate items and unfolded margins. All of this, in addition to commissions and gifts to PP politicians in exchange for contract awards. The PP, in this regard, has been convicted three times: for profiting during the first stage of the Gürtel scandal, which earned it a fine of 245,000 euros; for the Boadilla del Monte plot, in which the judge imprisoned its mayor, Arturo González Panero; and for which the PP had to pay 204,198 euros; and as a subsidiary civil party responsible for the headquarters construction, which was paid for with black money.

The PSOE pressures the PP

The PSOE has not missed the start of this trial, although the PP is not accused in this main case. "The Gürtel case was not an isolated case: it was an illegal financing system that operated for almost two decades. A black fund was used to pay for election campaigns, party events in Madrid and Valencia, and even the renovation of the PP headquarters on Génova Street with black money, and with his last trial underway, Feijóo "past." But he is not, because the PP is Gürtel and the Gürtel is the PP.

In the trial that begins this Monday, there are five defendants who have not admitted to the facts and the public prosecutor's office has made them the main interest. One of them is Guillermo Martínez Lluch, whom Correa met again in the National Court this Monday 20 years later, according to his statement. According to the interrogation that the Prosecutor's Office has carried out on Correa, Martínez Lluch wanted to remind the leader of the plot that he did not know González Panero, although telephone conversations between the two have been heard in which it is clear Martínez Lluch knew perfectly well who he was. The Meatball, the nickname Correa used to refer to González Panero.

Are Correa and Crespo still in prison?

The two leaders of the plot, Correa and Crespo, were imprisoned in 2017, but have been serving time on the third degree for some time after serving half of their sentences. Correa decided to cooperate with the justice system from the initial sentencing to obtain prison benefits, while Bárcenas initially denied the crimes but later reached an agreement with the court. The former PP treasurer obtained the third degree a year ago after serving time in Soto del Real prison and a social integration center.