Prosecutors Move to Charge Podemos Party with Financial Crime

PODEMOS is facing scrutiny as Madrid prosecutors move to charge the coalition party with irregular financing. 

The Provincial Public Prosecutor’s Office of Madrid is investigating a 365,000 consultancy contract that Podemos attempted to pass off as electoral spending in April 2019. Alarm bells were raised by auditors when invoices failed to match with the contract. A probe found that the “consultant” was in fact a commercial company based in Carmona (Sevilla) that had no business activity or employees.

Prosecutors originally pursued charges of electoral crime and falsification of documents, which can only be committed by individuals in Spanish criminal law. The two joint administrators of the electoral account of Podemos, Daniel de Frutos and Carlos García Ramos, alongside the administrator of Neurona Comunidad, Elías Castejón have been charged with these crimes.

They decided to charge the Podemos party as an organisation with the crime of irregular financing. Prosecutors say that this action “is more secure for the party in that it allows it to take cognisance of the investigation and guarantees that” when the charges of irregular financing go to court “it can defend itself and propose proceedings”.

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