Barcenas latest: He's off on a ski holiday
Luis Barcenas, the disgraced former treasurer of Spain´s ruling party, could be heading for the snowy slopes of the Pyrenees for a spot of skiing while he awaits trial.
The man at the centre of a far-reaching corruption scandal that has threatened to derail the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who himself has been implicated by Barcenas, has been granted permission to have a holiday.
A judge on Thursday decided that he could travel to his luxury mountain chalet at the ski resort of Baqueira Beret, northern Spain, and report to the local courthouse three times a week.
He was released from prison at the end of January after his family raised €200,000 ($230,000) to post bail and after a stint inside Soto Real prison of over 19 months.
Under the bail terms, Barcenas was stripped of his passport and must to report to a court three times a week. All his assets and bank accounts
have been frozen.
He was granted permission to go on a two-week holiday with his family beginning on February 20th to the resort that is a favourite of King Juan Carlos.
His holiday home was described in El Pais as a luxury chalet of 151 square meters, a property that has been seized by the courts pending trial.
Public prosecutors in charge of the Gürtel corruption case are seeking a 42-year jail term for Barcenas, who once ran the accounts for the Popular Party, and is now accused of corruption, tax fraud and money laundering.
He is also being investigated over claims that he ran a secret slush fund for the Popular Party and he alleges that even Rajoy was among those to accept regular envelopes of cash – an allegation which the Prime Minister denies.
Earlier in the day it emerged that the investigating judge in charge of the case had "mislaid" some key documents relating to data wiped from the laptop of the ex-treasurer.
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The man at the centre of a far-reaching corruption scandal that has threatened to derail the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who himself has been implicated by Barcenas, has been granted permission to have a holiday.
A judge on Thursday decided that he could travel to his luxury mountain chalet at the ski resort of Baqueira Beret, northern Spain, and report to the local courthouse three times a week.
He was released from prison at the end of January after his family raised €200,000 ($230,000) to post bail and after a stint inside Soto Real prison of over 19 months.
Under the bail terms, Barcenas was stripped of his passport and must to report to a court three times a week. All his assets and bank accounts have been frozen.
He was granted permission to go on a two-week holiday with his family beginning on February 20th to the resort that is a favourite of King Juan Carlos.
His holiday home was described in El Pais as a luxury chalet of 151 square meters, a property that has been seized by the courts pending trial.
Public prosecutors in charge of the Gürtel corruption case are seeking a 42-year jail term for Barcenas, who once ran the accounts for the Popular Party, and is now accused of corruption, tax fraud and money laundering.
He is also being investigated over claims that he ran a secret slush fund for the Popular Party and he alleges that even Rajoy was among those to accept regular envelopes of cash – an allegation which the Prime Minister denies.
Earlier in the day it emerged that the investigating judge in charge of the case had "mislaid" some key documents relating to data wiped from the laptop of the ex-treasurer.
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