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The Gürtel case is an ongoing political corruption scandal in Spain, which implicates officers of the People's Party (PP), Spain's major right-wing party, some of which have been forced to resign or have been suspended. The case came to public attention in early 2009, but for the most part the suspects are still awaiting trial.〔 Gürtel is one of the largest corruption scandals in recent Spanish history, and there are related scandals, such as the Barcenas case, which have received media attention in their own right. The investigative operation was given the name Gürtel in a cryptic reference to one of the principal suspects, (''Correa'' means belt in Spanish, ''Gürtel'' in German). Correa is a businessman who cultivated links with PP officers. The Spanish police began to investigate his activities in 2007 after information was obtained from a whistle-blower regarding alleged corruption in the Madrid area. The accusations include bribery, money laundering and tax evasion, and implicate a circle of businessmen led by Correa and politicians from the People's Party. The alleged illicit activities relate to party funding and the awarding of contracts by local/regional governments in Valencia,〔Zafra, Ignacio (13 July 2011), ("Camps' defense changes tack in attempt to shelve trial." ) ''El País'' (English edition)〕 the Community of Madrid and elsewhere. Early estimates of the money loss to public finances amounted to at least €120,000,000.,〔Pere Rusiñol (2011), ("La 'Gürtel' costó 120 millones al erario público" ), ''Público''〕 while some of the alleged bribes paid in return were not particularly large (for example, items of luxury clothing).〔Fabra, María and Ignacio Zafra (15 July 2011) ("Valencian premier to stand trial for accepting suits as gifts." ) ''El País'' (English edition)〕 ==Judicial process== A judicial investigation was started by Baltasar Garzón, the examining magistrate of the Juzgado Central de Instrucción No. 5, the court which investigates the most important criminal cases in Spain, including terrorism, organised crime, and money laundering. Garzón had five suspects, including Correa, detained in February 2009. Garzón was suspended as a judge in 2010 pending his own trial on a charge of exceeding his authority with regard to a case unrelated to Gürtel (his investigation into Francoist crimes against humanity). This particular suspension was eventually overturned, but it was still in force when, in 2011, Garzón was given another suspension, this time pending trial for having violated lawyer-client privilege in the Gürtel case. (He had recorded conversations between detained suspects and their lawyers).〔 ("Garzón defiende en Valencia las escuchas del caso Gürtel." ) ''El Mundo''〕〔Zuber, Helene (2102), ("Prosecuting the Prosecutor." ) ''Spiegel International'' (Spiegel Online)〕 The case was reassigned to Judge Antonio Pedreira. In the summer of 2011 Pedreira set bail for Correa at €15,000,000, reportedly the second largest figure in Spanish legal history.〔Melchor Saiz-Pardo (2011), ("Imponen a Correa la segunda mayor fianza de la historia." ) ''ABC''.〕 Correa's legal team appealed, saying that the amount was not based on an objective assessment of their client's wealth, as access to some of Correa´s accounts had been blocked and there was uncertainty about how much wealth he held abroad. Correa was released on bail in June 2012 by the third judge to handle the case Pablo Ruz, who had reduced the sum required to 200,000 euros, a reduction reflecting not only the accused's perceived ability to pay, but also the length of time he had been held on remand, which was approaching the maximum possible under Spanish law.〔 ("Francisco Correa sale de prisión tras pagar 200.000 € de fianza" ) ''20minutos''. Retrieved 5 December 2013.〕 The investigation has taken a long time partly because of delays in receiving information from foreign banks. In 2014 Judge Ruz announced he was in a position to proceed against 45 suspects,〔(After five years, judge wraps up portion of huge Gürtel corruption investigation ). ''El Pais''〕 but in 2015 Ruz was taken off the case, and it has yet to come to trial. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gürtel case」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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