Spanish police arrest 9 in high-speed train corruption case

 

The Spanish Civil Guard arrested 9 people for alleged irregularities in the construction of the high-speed AVE train linking Madrid and Barcelona that led to cost overruns of about €6 mln, prosecutors said Monday.

The suspects are officials of Adif, the agency that manages infrastructure projects in Spain, and executives of a construction company who allegedly colluded to earn profits on the AVE project that they were not entitled to, the special prosecutor's office for corruption cases said in a statement.

Investigators are looking at whether executives of contractor Corsan worked with certain Adif officials and third parties to benefit at the expense of the government.

Prosecutors suspect that documents were altered to make it appear that the contractor had done more work on the project than it actually performed, officials said.

Investigators are also examining whether the awarding of the contract itself was done under irregular conditions, prosecutors said.

A Corsan executive may have authorized payments to the Adif officials for their role in the scheme, prosecutors said.

Police conducted searches in Barcelona and Madrid, targeting residences, Corsan offices and the offices of the technical consulting firm on the project.

Spanish Development Minister Ana Pastor, whose Cabinet department oversees Adif, said Monday that her office would work with judicial officials, "providing all the information" requested on the case.

The Isolux Corsan company, for its part, offered its "full cooperation" to authorities.