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Palma.—The figures emerged yesterday as a result of a court session last week which heard the declaration of Daniel Mercado, the owner of Over Marketing, a company which had been responsible for Partido Popular (PP) campaign creativity in both the 2003 and 2007 elections.

During the appearance of Mercado last week at Guardia Civil headquarters in Madrid, investigators pointed out to him that only 20'000 of a 202'479 euro party political campaign bill had been declared to the regional Accountancy Board. The 20'000 euros was backed up with invoices by the Grupo Over (consisting of two companies, Traci and Abancio).

Investigators said that a document, previously undisclosed had come to light indicating that there were more than 200'000 euros unaccounted for in the costs of the campaign.

Mercado admitted under cross examination that the real cost of the campaign was reflected in the document, adding that costs for Minorca would have entailed a further 33'265 euro bill.

Mercado said that in the office of Fernando Areal, the ex Treasurer for the PP and brother-in-law of the former Balearic President Jaume Matas, he was paid money “in black” but refrained from specifying sums. Mercado nevertheless expressed surprise that Areal only declared invoices to the value of 20'000 euros.

Mercado also admitted that so far as the 2003 electoral campaign was concerned, he had reached agreement with Matas that what he had not been paid “in black” would instead be compensated in terms of assured future contracts.

Mercado claims that it was Matas himself who directed the electoral campaign but that two other key players in its organisation were Mabel Cabrer, the current spokesman for the Partido Popular in the Balearic Parliament who was then regional Minister for Public Works and former Palma City Planning Councillor, Javier Rodrigo de Santos, now serving a jail sentence for a cocaine related crime and separate corruption charges. He said Matas was frequently “too busy” to see Mercado himself, but that both Cabrer and de Santos were supervised by ex Central Government Delegate in the Islands, José Maria Rodriguez.