Ten arrests in major political corruption raid in Catalonia

ANDREU VILOCA, the treasurer of Artur Mas’ CDC party, were among ten people arrested on suspicion of taking bribes in an operation launched by the Civil Guard at 8am on Wednesday October 21.

The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia ( CDC – Convergencia Democrática de Cataluña – in Spanish) is led by Artur Mas and Treasurer Andreu Viloca.

The Wednesday raid at the party’s headquarters in Barcelona also involved the search of 20 other homes, businesses and public companies. Seven people from the businesses were held as investigations continued into the payment of illegal commissions to politicians in exchange for government contracts.

Josep Antoni Rossell i Polo, head of a Catalan government agency overseeing public works projects, was amongst those held. The Infraestructuras.cat director general was arrested after ongoing investigations which also saw an earlier search of CDC headquarters in August.

The El Vendrell court that ordered the raid earlier sentenced Torredembarra Mayor Daniel Masague to prison in June after finding that he had accepted a payment of €400,000 from a construction company doing public works in the town.

The Catalan leader, Artur Mas, has previously linked political motivations to the investigations due to his support for the independence movement in the region.