A REPORT from the Spanish tax authorities claims the PP government has 'not committed any crimes' in terms of money-laundering through its alleged cash-in-hand wage top-ups paid to high-ranking politicians and 'bribes' from companies in exchange for public works contracts.
Hacienda, the tax office, says any undeclared earnings received from the former treasurer Luis Bárcenas by Spain's president Mariano Rajoy (pictured) and the vice-secretary general María Dolores del Cospedal including and prior to 2007 do not count as the time-limit for their being treated as a criminal offence – five years – has expired.
And those occurring during or after 2008 are not considered an offence because the money received was less than 120,000 euros, the report continues.
Although the tax office cannot say for certain whether such undeclared cash payments were received, they are working on the hypothetical basis that they have been and that the handwritten accounts penned by Bárcenas were genuine.
These claim that in 2007, Rajoy and his colleague Ángel Acebes received 25,200 euros in cash and a third party member, Javier Arenas, former vice-secretary general, received 30,000 euros.
“More than five years has passed, meaning that in the event these actions had indeed been carried out, any possible tax fraud has expired,” the report claims.
The sums in cash Bárcenas allegedly paid Rajoy and Cospedal in 2008 were 27,600 euros and 15,000 euros respectively, which are 'not enough' to be considered a criminal offence as the total was less than 120,000 euros, according to the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF).
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