Operation Pitiusa results in 73 arrests for corruption

 

An operation by the Polica Nacional has resulted in the arrest of 73 Spanish residents across 20 provinces.

A Barcelona court found complaints of professional intrusion crimes, bribery, disclosure of secrets and money laundering, with the majority of those arrested being detectives and private investigators, who bribed officials to obtain and sell confidential data to third parties.

A number of other public officials, local police, employees of telephone companies, entrepreneurs, professionals and private administrative agencies have also been implicated in the scheme.

Yesterday the Minister for the Interior, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, explained how a number of people in ' official positions' has accessed confidential and personal information, and ad used it to extort or coerce money from others.The court found that detectives had boughts data from employees in a number of sectors : economic; labor; personal injury and telecommunication. Court investigators also searched the Barcelona registry office, ​​INEM offices in Badalona, ​​headquarters of the Basque Treasury in Bilbao and even the confidential files of the risk analysis unit at Barcelona's El Prat airport, where they belive much information was obtained from.

The investigation, named 'Operation Pitiusa' began in Barcelona over 1 year ago, but it was rapidly found to have an impact on a national scale.