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Palma.—The financing of the Partido Popular during the period between 2003 and 2007, when Jaume Matas, already implicated in a number of alleged corruption cases, was President of the Balearics is now under investigation as part of the Over Case.

Judge Castro began his investigations last week in Madrid and yesterday, the press blackout was lifted and it appears that the PP in the Balearics was being apparently irregularly funded via a marketing company called Over in Madrid during that period.

What the funding was used for has yet to be confirmed, but it is thought the money was used for election campaigns.
According to sources close to the investigation, the Over Case is connected to the Gürtel case which is an ongoing political corruption scandal on mainland Spain, which implicates officers of the PP, some of which have been forced to resign or have been suspended.

Among the accusations are bribery, money laundering and tax evasion implicating a circle of businessmen led by businessman and prime suspect Francisco Correa and politicians belonging to the PP.

The alleged illicit activities related to party funding and the award of contracts by local/regional government in Valencia, the Community of Madrid and now apparently here in the Balearics.

Early calculations on the money loss to public finances were estimated at a minimum of €120 millions. However, some of the alleged bribes were not particularly large; for example, items of clothing.

The four who had been subpoenaed to appear before Judge Castro are the former PP Palma Councillor for Planning, Rodrigo de Santos, the Insular Director of the Government in Minorca, Antoni Luis Juaneda, who resigned last night, the Mayor of Inca Rafel Torres and the sister-in-law of ex-President Jaume Matas along with a number of press offficers, directors of the Over marketing company and other business people.

As yet, no Balearic ministers who served Matas during that period have been called but one, Mabel Cabrer, the current spokesperson for the PP in Parliament and Matas's Minister for Public Works has publicly called on Matas to “show his face” in order to help clear up this latest alleged corruption scandal. Cabrer is one former Minister from the period in question who could be called as a witness if any wrong doing is discovered to have taken place in her department along with the ministries for Interior and Health.