Alleged Financial Irregularity: Vox Faces Complaint from Anti-Corruption Authority
Month-Long Saga: The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has dropkicked the complaint lodged by the PSOE against Vox for suspected illegal party funding. This decision was made because the shady financial shenanigans have already been probed and penalized administratively by the Court of Auditors.
This financial malarkey was mulled over in the reports of the political parties' accounts during the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, as previously mentioned in the Anti-Corruption ruling, which we've nabbed for our reading pleasure. The Court of Auditors flagged these fishy transactions and slapped Santiago Abascal with a "very serious offense" penalty amounting to 862,000 euros for accepting undisclosed donations.
Amateur Fundraising Hustles
The socialists kicked off a suit against Vox, accusing the radical right-wing formation of orchestrating criminal activities involving anonymous donations in cold hard cash. The complaint was split into two main sections, according to Anti-Corruption.
First off, PSOE claimed that Vox has been running a racket for years, collecting secret cash donations through information booths in the public eye. Furthermore, a part of these donations might have been camouflaged via the reporting of promotional activities sold as merchandise at these booths. The PSOE made its complaint to the State Prosecutor's Office and the Courts of Auditors back in May 2023.
In response, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has danced around the situation, stating that "legal technicalities" prohibit these wrongdoings from being escalated to the criminal realm, as they've already been examined and penalized within the administrative sphere by the same body responsible for monitoring the political parties' accounts.
Clear as Mud: Bank Loan Not a Donation
The second piece of PSOE's complaint revolves around a loan from the Hungarian bank, Magyar Bankholding (MBH), which could be perceived as a donation, something verboten for political parties. Anti-Corruption opened an investigation into this matter in March.
Specifically, the PSOE slapped Vox with allegations of illegally bypassing the ban on funding from foreign governments, organizations, or companies when it received a loan of 6,500,000 euros from MBH in 2023, which later surged to 6,692,082 euros in 2024.
However, the ruling puts a spanner in the works by stating that the law only penalizes donations, not other forms of financing. "Said loan was fully paid off by Vox in September 2024. Therefore, no donation was made", the document explains, while adding that the Court of Auditors hasn't been able to confirm whether MBH is backed by foreign governments or public entities.
Additional Information: The current state of Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office's investigation into alleged unidentified donations to Vox remains sketchy. However, it's important to mention that the PSOE lodged this complaint against Vox back in December 2022, alleging that the party employed shady methods to collect funds, including questionable foreign donations[2].
For the latest updates on this matter, it's advisable to stay glued to official announcements from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office or relevant Spanish authorities. It's worth noting that political parties in Spain, including both the PSOE and Vox, are wrestling with financial and corruption allegations, underscoring ongoing concerns about transparency and legality within political financing in Spain[1][3].
- The complaint lodged by the PSOE against Vox alleges that the average donation received by Vox over the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, some of which were possibly hidden within reported promotional activities at information booths, falls under policy-and-legislation as it involves suspected illegal party funding.
- The general news about the financial malarkey involving Vox and the allegations of anonymous donations, which were initially reported in May 2023, is still under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, raising concerns about transparency and legality within political financing in Spain.
