Spain's slush fund controversy bubbles along today..... Rajoy trying to baffle with bull shit in Germany during a Q&A session with Merkel - funny he could take questions in Germany but not Spain ?
http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/02/04/inenglish/1359996476_669894.html
and....
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/02/ledger-book-shows-rajoy-received-35.html
The reference to "undeclared money" went away in firmer denial from Rajoy, "Never, I repeat never, did I receive or hand out black money, not in this party nor anywhere else".
I am not positive of the order of those denials, but based on article timestamps, I believe I have them in the right order.
Adding fat to the denial fire, accounting books allegedly written and kept by Luis Bárcenas, the former PP treasurer, implicate Rajoy personally, to the tune of €322,231.
Meanwhile, anger is mounting and police barricaded the PP headquarters in response to gathering groups of protesters.
Anger Rises
The Financial Times reports Anger rises as scandal rocks Rajoy
La Razon reports The PP will commission a survey of the supposed "roles" Barcenas
In the alleged notes of former PP treasurer Luis Barcenas striking that the font is the same for all entries, which would mean that he would have written Barcenas year after year with the same layout. It is as if the author had aimed names and figures in one sitting all data as belonging to different dates and spaced in time.
Documents Real?
Press Euro reports ‘The PP demands expert analysis of the Bárcenas documents to prove they are fake’
Well here we are again, with a sideshow on whether the money was declared or not. Moreover, and more importantly, with all the names and dates, it should be known 100% without a doubt whether the entries are accurate or not.
If indeed Rajoy, did declare all the income, then it should be easily seen in tax records. So what did Rajoy declare on taxes?
Do the numbers match? If not, why not? Instead we have a pair of sideshows regarding a font and whether or not the money was declared.
If the documents were fake, would the matter need to be studied or would the PP would come straight out and declare, "the documents are fake"?
Moreover, if the documents were fake (and perhaps even if they weren't, it would be in Bárcenas' best interest to challenge their authenticity.
So, where is the statement from Bárcenas that they are fake?
Instead, Bárcenas threatened to set off a political "atom bomb" if convicted. If everyone is innocent, then it is logically impossible to set off a political bomb of any size, let alone an "atom bomb".
Simply put, the denials do not add up.
For more on the scandal, the denials, the "atom bomb" threat, and Rajoy's effort to squash the news, please see Big Brother in Action: EU Wants Power to Sack Journalists; Prime Minister Rajoy Threatens Newspapers Following Corruption Articles.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
And Greece - the Fin Min gets a bullet in the mail......
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_04/02/2013_482029
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-04/greek-finance-minister-gets-bullet-mail
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/04/2013 12:31 -0500
Perpetrators of double heist linked to Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Mall bombing
Four suspects arrested last week for a double bank heist in northern Greece have been linked to the urban guerrilla group Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire, according to police who believe the four men could be the perpetrators behind a bloodless bomb blast at The Mall in northern Athens last month.
Police said Monday that the fingerprints of two of the suspects had been found in two apartments – in the Athens neighborhoods of Kallithea and Halandri – believed to have been used by the guerrilla group as hideouts. The fingerprints of Andreas Bourtzoukos, 23, were found in the Halandri flat, and those of Nikos Romanos, 20, in a flat in Kallithea. Romanos, who was a key witness in the trial of the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos, the teenager who was shot dead by a policeman in December 2008, reportedly used a false identity card, under the name Constantinos Giakoumopoulos, to rent out a second apartment in Halandri, according to police. That apartment was searched by police late on Sunday night, according to sources who said the property bore signs of a break-in, possibly by members of the group attempting to destroy evidence. Officers searching the second Halandri flat reportedly discovered plastic bags identical to the ones in which an explosive device planted in The Mall had been transported last month.
The other two robbery suspects arrested last Friday – Yiannis Michailidis, 25 and Dimitris Politis, 22 – had already been linked to Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire. Warrants for their arrests had been issued in 2011. The pair were transferred Monday to a specially designed courtroom at Attica’s high-security Korydallos Prison where 17 people are on trial for membership of the group.
Meanwhile Athens public prosecutor Panagiota Fakou launched an investigation into claims that all four suspects were beaten while in police custody. The intervention followed complaints by relatives after photographs of the four suspects, bearing heavy bruises to their faces, were published by police. Indications that some of the photographs were doctored, to conceal the presence of police officers’ hands constraining the suspects or to tone down the bruising, provoked strong criticism.
Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias said the injuries were sustained during the suspects’ arrest but promised “merciless punishment” if any officers are found to have abused the suspects in custody. He said the photos had been doctored so the suspects would be recognizable to the public.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-04/bank-italy-caught-lying-about-imploding-monte-paschi-counters-even-more-ridiculous-l
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/04/2013 11:43 -0500
http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/02/04/inenglish/1359996476_669894.html
BÁRCENAS' SECRET PAPERS
Rajoy on slush fund: “It is all untrue, except for some things”
PP plans to sue “everyone” who made impropriety allegations
Merkel skirts questions about corruption; stresses bilateral ties
EL PAÍS Madrid 4 FEB 2013 - 17:47 CET3
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (r) and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy address a news conference at the Chancellery in Berlin. / FABRIZIO BENSCH (REUTERS)
Answering reporters’ questions for the first time since details emerged late last week about an alleged slush fund his Popular Party (PP) controlled, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Monday in Berlin that all the information that has been published by the media “is untrue — except for some things.”
The somewhat confusing statement came during a question-and-answer session Rajoy held alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel following their meeting to discuss Spain’s economy and the reforms being carried out by his government.
“I repeat what I said Saturday: everything that has been said about me and my colleagues in the party is untrue, except for some things that have been published by some media outlets,” the 57-year-old prime minister said.
The conservative leader did not clarify what things he believes are false, nor did he answer a Spanish reporter’s question as to who he or his party plan on suing for alleging that many officials, including himself, were given bonuses from a secret fund on top of their regular salaries.
Everything that has been said about me and my colleagues in the party is untrue, except for some things”
Back in Madrid, party officials were preparing a batch of lawsuits against “everyone” who has alleged that Rajoy and other PP members received fat cash bonuses. According to the information obtained by EL PAÍS from former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas’ secret account ledgers, Rajoy received more than 322,000 euros between 1987 and 2008.
Carlos Floriano, the deputy secretary general for organization and the PP’s number three, said that the decision was made on Monday. “We are just waiting to see whether we should go the civil or criminal route,” Floriano said, without mentioning Bárcenas or anyone else by name. When asked who the party was planning to sue, he said: “Everyone who has presented, leaked and published” the allegations.
On Saturday, Rajoy appeared before the cameras to refute the allegations, but reporters were kept in a separate room and not allowed to ask the prime minister any questions.
A visibly upset Merkel had to respond on two occasions to questions about the ongoing corruption cases in Spain, including an uncomfortable mention about illegal financing in her conservative Christian Democratic Union in 1999, when Helmut Kohl was leader. At one point she tried to avoid answering a reporter’s question on whether she was concerned about Spanish corruption.
“What is important is the relationship between the two governments,” she said.
In Spain, Socialist Party number two Elena Valenciano commented on Rajoy’s point that everything was false, except for some things. “The question is: how many things, and which ones?” she asked on Twitter.
Meanwhile, more PP officials have come forward to acknowledge the information contained in Bárcenas’ bookkeeping. Santiago Abascal, a former PP member of the provincial parliament in Álava, whose name appears as receiving two million pesetas [about 12,000 euros] in 1999, said he asked the party for the money after his business was attacked by terrorists. “I told the party that I couldn’t make ends meet and they gave me two million pesetas,” he said
and....
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/02/ledger-book-shows-rajoy-received-35.html
Monday, February 04, 2013 1:39 PM
Ledger Book Shows Rajoy Received 35 Payments Totaling €322,231; Rajoy's Incredulous Denial; Anger Rises
Rajoy Denies Receiving "Undeclared" Money
After waiting for days to make a statement, prime minister Mariano Rajoy stepped up to the plate with a fuzzy denial on Saturday following an emergency meeting of the Popular Party’s executive committee.
"This is all false. I'm not in politics for money. I have never received undeclared money" said Rajoy.
Questions Abound
After waiting for days to make a statement, prime minister Mariano Rajoy stepped up to the plate with a fuzzy denial on Saturday following an emergency meeting of the Popular Party’s executive committee.
"This is all false. I'm not in politics for money. I have never received undeclared money" said Rajoy.
Questions Abound
- Where did the slush fund money come from?
- Who were the recipients?
- What were the totals?
- Were the payments legal?
- Did Rajoy really pay taxes on all of it?
The reference to "undeclared money" went away in firmer denial from Rajoy, "Never, I repeat never, did I receive or hand out black money, not in this party nor anywhere else".
I am not positive of the order of those denials, but based on article timestamps, I believe I have them in the right order.
Adding fat to the denial fire, accounting books allegedly written and kept by Luis Bárcenas, the former PP treasurer, implicate Rajoy personally, to the tune of €322,231.
Meanwhile, anger is mounting and police barricaded the PP headquarters in response to gathering groups of protesters.
Anger Rises
The Financial Times reports Anger rises as scandal rocks Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy waited more than two days to comment on the slush fund scandal threatening to engulf both the Spanish prime minister and his Popular party. When the denial finally came, it was firm and unequivocal. “Never, I repeat never, did I receive or hand out black money, not in this party nor anywhere else,” Mr Rajoy declared over the weekend.
Reminding Spanish voters of his decision to drop a lucrative career as a property notary decades ago, Mr Rajoy said on Saturday: “I didn’t enter politics to make money. I entered politics losing money.”
His assurances, however, did nothing to silence the rising popular anger over alleged secret payments to senior members of Mr Rajoy’s centre-right Popular party, which has been rocked by a stream of embarrassing revelations over the past days. Hours after he spoke, riot police cordoned off the streets around the PP headquarters in central Madrid in preparation for the latest in a wave of small but widespread demonstrations against political corruption.Document Snapshot
Asked whether they approve of Mr Rajoy, 77 per cent of Spaniards say no. The poll appeared alongside a fresh batch of revelations, after the paper decided to publish extensive excerpts of accounting books allegedly written and kept by Luis Bárcenas, the former PP treasurer. According to the latest report, the books record 35 payments to Mr Rajoy himself worth a total of €322,231 between 1997 and 2008.
La Razon reports The PP will commission a survey of the supposed "roles" Barcenas
In the alleged notes of former PP treasurer Luis Barcenas striking that the font is the same for all entries, which would mean that he would have written Barcenas year after year with the same layout. It is as if the author had aimed names and figures in one sitting all data as belonging to different dates and spaced in time.
Documents Real?
Press Euro reports ‘The PP demands expert analysis of the Bárcenas documents to prove they are fake’
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s People's Party (PP) wants to submit the original copies of the secret financial notes alleged to have been written by his former treasurer, Luis Bárcenas, to experts in order to determine whether they are genuine.Curious Defense
According to the account records, published by El País, key members of the PP received additional undeclared payments between 1990 and 2008. Mariano Rajoy has said publicly that he has "never" received any undeclared money ...
Well here we are again, with a sideshow on whether the money was declared or not. Moreover, and more importantly, with all the names and dates, it should be known 100% without a doubt whether the entries are accurate or not.
If indeed Rajoy, did declare all the income, then it should be easily seen in tax records. So what did Rajoy declare on taxes?
Do the numbers match? If not, why not? Instead we have a pair of sideshows regarding a font and whether or not the money was declared.
If the documents were fake, would the matter need to be studied or would the PP would come straight out and declare, "the documents are fake"?
Moreover, if the documents were fake (and perhaps even if they weren't, it would be in Bárcenas' best interest to challenge their authenticity.
So, where is the statement from Bárcenas that they are fake?
Instead, Bárcenas threatened to set off a political "atom bomb" if convicted. If everyone is innocent, then it is logically impossible to set off a political bomb of any size, let alone an "atom bomb".
Simply put, the denials do not add up.
For more on the scandal, the denials, the "atom bomb" threat, and Rajoy's effort to squash the news, please see Big Brother in Action: EU Wants Power to Sack Journalists; Prime Minister Rajoy Threatens Newspapers Following Corruption Articles.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
And Greece - the Fin Min gets a bullet in the mail......
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_04/02/2013_482029
Cretan Revolution sends bullets to finance minister, tax offices
According to a police spokesperson, similar letters containing bullets and threatening letters were also sent to tax offices in Hania, Iraklio and Aghios Nikolaos on Crete on Sunday, while another letter arrived at the island’s Rethymno tax bureau on Monday. |
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-04/greek-finance-minister-gets-bullet-mail
Greek Finance Minister Gets Bullet In The Mail
Now that Europe is clearly unfixed once more, it is time to shift attention back to broke Greece where as we showed yesterday things are certainly back to the "new normal" with 24 hour strikes again on the daily agenda. And just to keep it real, Greek police reported that the new Greek Finance Minister received a care package with just two contents earlier today: a bullet and a death threat.
From Reuters:
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_04/02/2013_482037Greece's finance minister was sent a bullet and a death threat from a group protesting home foreclosures, police officials said on Monday, in the latest incident to raise fears of growing political violence.
The package was sent by a little-known group called "Cretan Revolution", which warned the minister against any efforts to seize homes and evict homeowners, police sources said. The group sent similar letters to tax offices in Crete last week.Yannis Stournaras, a respected economist who became finance minister in June, has angered many Greeks by championing austerity policies demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund as the price for bailout aid.It was unclear as of this posting how the mainstream media will spin the particular development in Greece as favorable for the economy, and supportive of all time highs in the S&P. We will provide an update once we know the answer.One thing we do know is that it is becoming very possible that the next time a bullet is delivered to the Greek authorities, it could well be traveling faster than just at snail mail pace.
Finally, it is time Greece took a hint from the US and banned all bullets. That would surely eliminate all such fan mail in the future.
Four tied to terror group
Perpetrators of double heist linked to Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, Mall bombing
 |
Police said Monday that the fingerprints of two of the suspects had been found in two apartments – in the Athens neighborhoods of Kallithea and Halandri – believed to have been used by the guerrilla group as hideouts. The fingerprints of Andreas Bourtzoukos, 23, were found in the Halandri flat, and those of Nikos Romanos, 20, in a flat in Kallithea. Romanos, who was a key witness in the trial of the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos, the teenager who was shot dead by a policeman in December 2008, reportedly used a false identity card, under the name Constantinos Giakoumopoulos, to rent out a second apartment in Halandri, according to police. That apartment was searched by police late on Sunday night, according to sources who said the property bore signs of a break-in, possibly by members of the group attempting to destroy evidence. Officers searching the second Halandri flat reportedly discovered plastic bags identical to the ones in which an explosive device planted in The Mall had been transported last month.
The other two robbery suspects arrested last Friday – Yiannis Michailidis, 25 and Dimitris Politis, 22 – had already been linked to Conspiracy of the Cells of Fire. Warrants for their arrests had been issued in 2011. The pair were transferred Monday to a specially designed courtroom at Attica’s high-security Korydallos Prison where 17 people are on trial for membership of the group.
Meanwhile Athens public prosecutor Panagiota Fakou launched an investigation into claims that all four suspects were beaten while in police custody. The intervention followed complaints by relatives after photographs of the four suspects, bearing heavy bruises to their faces, were published by police. Indications that some of the photographs were doctored, to conceal the presence of police officers’ hands constraining the suspects or to tone down the bruising, provoked strong criticism.
Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias said the injuries were sustained during the suspects’ arrest but promised “merciless punishment” if any officers are found to have abused the suspects in custody. He said the photos had been doctored so the suspects would be recognizable to the public.
| Leftist opposition SYRIZA and Democratic Left, the junior coalition partner, called for a probe into how the detainees sustained their injuries. Romanos said he would not sue the police, claiming to be a “prisoner of war.” “I want the abuse I suffered to prick citizens’ consciences.” |
And Italy completes the picture - banking and political scandal wrapped into one glofest - with Mario Draghi and Mario Monti in the mix to boot......
Bank Of Italy Caught Lying About Imploding Monte Paschi, Counters With Even More Ridiculous Lies
One half of the reason why the "market" has finally been reacquainted with gravity is its realization that the previously reportedSpanish kickback scandal, which incidentally has been known for over two weeks to most if not the algos that push stocks higher, is refusing to go away. As El Pais summarized below, the graft revealed in this ongoing political fiasco threatens to take down everyone in the Spanish ruling PP, from PM Rajoy, who received more than €300,000 over the years, and on to the lowest rungs of political corruption.
The other half of the reason for today's Italian stock market collapse is the well-known to our readers scandal involving Italian bank Monte Paschi, which also refuses to go away due to its massive political implications three weeks ahead of the Italian elections. Yet the reason why little if anything has been mentioned about what may soon be a nationalization of the third largest (and just as insolvent) Italian bank in the mainstream US press is the resulting humiliation for the current ECB head, ex-Goldmanite Mario Draghi, who has been aggressively pushing to become a bank supervisor of all European banks as ECB head, yet with every day new revelations emerge about how epically he failed to supervise a major Italian bank right under his nose as head of the Bank of Italy.
The latest in this developing scandal which not even the market can ignore any more comes once more from the Bank of Italy, which has once more changed its story. Recall that as recently as January 23 Mario Monti vowed in Davos that "nobody knew nuthin":
- BANK OF ITALY SAYS MONTE PASCHI HID DOCUMENTS ON TRANSACTIONS
This was a sentiment that was vouched by the Bank of Italy itself, which pled complete ignorance and accused then-BMPS management of everything.
Turns out Monti and the Bank of Italy both lied.
And now that it has to change its story once more, it is instead blaming the fact that it had no authority to act over what has emerged its own inspectors discovered were derivative irregularities as early as mid-2010. As Reuters summarizes, what we first said two weeks ago: "The roots of the corruption and derivatives scandal at Monte dei Paschi all stem back to when Draghi, now president of the European Central Bank, was chief of Italy's central bank from 2006 to 2011."
So now that the Bank of Italy can no longer plead ignorance, what is the defense? Why inability to actually do anything.
From Reuters:
The Bank of Italy (BoI) says it did everything in its powers to oversee Monte Paschi, including forcing it to raise new capital and applying behind the scenes pressure to force out its executives, who left last year.Last month, the BoI approved 3.9 billion euros ($5.3 billion) of state loans needed by the ailing Siena bank to shore up its capital.But the BoI, under Draghi's leadership, is under fire for not acting faster to sanction those managers and make its doubts public even though its inspectors had spotted the derivatives contracts at the center of the scandal back in mid-2010.However, the senior BoI source stressed that the decision on launching a sanctions procedure, involving publicly blaming and fining bank officials, does not depend on the BoI governor and its five member executive board, but on the bank's inspectors and then a series of lower committees.
"The inspectors are the only people responsible for initiating a sanctions procedure so if they don't find anything in the course of their inspection then it's not possible for the top management to start the process," said the source, who asked not to be named."We instruct the staff to be absolutely free from any influence from us, to present exactly the case, so if a sanction is decided then they present a proposal to the board and the board decides on the actual implementation of the sanctions."In the summer of 2010 BoI inspectors uncovered two opaque derivatives contracts that could cost Monte Paschi 720 million euros and are now at the center of fraud investigations, yet did not propose that sanctions be launched.
That decision "had nothing to do with the board," the official said, though he added that Draghi was shown the inspectors report.He declined to say whether he thought it was a good decision not to propose sanctions at that time.Why was the BoI caught lying? Same as every other time: a media leak.That 2010 inspectors' report was leaked to the press and sparked much of the current criticism of the BoI because the sharp criticisms of Monte Paschi's accounts and operations made by the inspectors were not followed by pressing action.The BoI did not summon Monte Paschi's executives, now under criminal investigation, until November 2011, after Draghi had left to head the ECB. It did not launch a sanctions procedure - which is still not completed -until the following year, after the officials had left the bank.
And the piece de resistance:"We may perhaps appear to be slow, but I think we are deliberate," the official said. He also stressed that although Monte Paschi failed to comply with the BoI's requests, the wrongdoing was already done at the time of the 2010 inspection. "What took place afterwards was to try to disguise the losses but it wasn't a recurrent or growing pattern of misbehaving," he said.Deliberate indeed: very deliberate in covering up fraud, and pretending the situation is fixed when in reality anyone with half a brain now realizes that despite the endless pumping of liquidity by the same ECB that Mario Draghi is now in charge of, things on Italian bank balance sheets are uglier than ever, and just getting worse by the day.This comes from the people who continue lying every single day, telling any idiot who still believes them that "Europe is fixed."
And the worst is that nobody knows just which other Italian (at first, at least) will blow up next, certainly not Italian shareholders which just dumped local stocks with a vigor not seen since the July near-bankruptcy of Spain, resulting in the Italian stock market plunging 4% or the most in six months.
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