Former head of Spanish bank convicted of corruption found dead with gunshot
- hace 7 años
Madrid, Jul 19 (EFE).- The former head of a bank which the Spanish state bailed out to the tune of 22.5 billion euros ($26 billion) and who was recently convicted of corruption was found dead Wednesday with a shot to the chest, sources close to the investigation told EFE.
Miguel Blesa, 69, was sentenced in Feb. to six years in prison for misappropriation of funds and criminal mismanagement during his tenure as president of Caja Madrid, which was later merged with six other entities to form Spanish lending giant Bankia.
His corpse was found at 8 am local time (6 am GMT) at a hunting estate located in the southern province of Cordoba.
The gunshot wound seemed to indicate Blesa could have committed suicide with a hunting rifle, investigation sources said.
Blesa had been under investigation for a string of allegedly corrupt dealings linked to Bankia along with his successor at the bank's helm, former IMF head and ex-deputy prime minister Rodrigo Rato.
Both were was found guilty on Feb. 23 of misappropriating assets over several years through the use of fiscally-opaque credit cards that allowed the bank's executives to incur in lavish personal expenses without paying taxes.
The "Black Cards" case, uncovered in 2014, provoked a great scandal in Spanish society, which had undergone hard years of economic crisis with extensive labor and social cuts.
Bankia had to be bailed out in May 2012 with 22.5 billion euros in taxpayers' money, although experts from the national central bank later claimed the real amount was actually 46 billion euros, more than double the official figure.
Among the expenses incurred by the former Caja Madrid board members were 3 million euros in opulent meals at luxury restaurants, 2 million euros in ATM cash withdrawals, over 1.5 million euros in trips, 1 million euros in shopping malls, nearly 800,000 euros in hotels and some 700,000 euros in fashion and accessories.
Blesa had appealed his conviction, which allowed him to avoid entering prison until a final ruling was made by the Supreme Court.
Spain's National Court decided not to impose bail or any other provisional remedies, as it saw little flight risk.
Keywords: efe,spain,miguel blesa,cordoba,dead,shot,chest,hunting,cajamadrid,bankia
Miguel Blesa, 69, was sentenced in Feb. to six years in prison for misappropriation of funds and criminal mismanagement during his tenure as president of Caja Madrid, which was later merged with six other entities to form Spanish lending giant Bankia.
His corpse was found at 8 am local time (6 am GMT) at a hunting estate located in the southern province of Cordoba.
The gunshot wound seemed to indicate Blesa could have committed suicide with a hunting rifle, investigation sources said.
Blesa had been under investigation for a string of allegedly corrupt dealings linked to Bankia along with his successor at the bank's helm, former IMF head and ex-deputy prime minister Rodrigo Rato.
Both were was found guilty on Feb. 23 of misappropriating assets over several years through the use of fiscally-opaque credit cards that allowed the bank's executives to incur in lavish personal expenses without paying taxes.
The "Black Cards" case, uncovered in 2014, provoked a great scandal in Spanish society, which had undergone hard years of economic crisis with extensive labor and social cuts.
Bankia had to be bailed out in May 2012 with 22.5 billion euros in taxpayers' money, although experts from the national central bank later claimed the real amount was actually 46 billion euros, more than double the official figure.
Among the expenses incurred by the former Caja Madrid board members were 3 million euros in opulent meals at luxury restaurants, 2 million euros in ATM cash withdrawals, over 1.5 million euros in trips, 1 million euros in shopping malls, nearly 800,000 euros in hotels and some 700,000 euros in fashion and accessories.
Blesa had appealed his conviction, which allowed him to avoid entering prison until a final ruling was made by the Supreme Court.
Spain's National Court decided not to impose bail or any other provisional remedies, as it saw little flight risk.
Keywords: efe,spain,miguel blesa,cordoba,dead,shot,chest,hunting,cajamadrid,bankia