Judge accuses Spain's ruling Popular Party of using ilegal slush fund

The ruling Popular Party in Spain ran an illegal slush fund for 18 years between 1990 and 2008, according to the National Court judge investigating a long-running corruption scandal.

Following a long investigation Judge Pablo Ruz concluded late on Monday that: "from 1990 to at least 2008 (the PP) drew on various sources of funding outside of the legal economic sphere."

"This allowed it to function, at least during the 18 years under investigation, with various systems of accounts which registered deposits and withdrawals of money outside of the official accounts declared."

Ruz has called on two former PP Treasurers, Luis Barcelona and Alvaro Lapuerta and four others to stand trial on charges of tax fraud and embezzlement, although charges against a further 22 people under investigation have been dropped.

The Barcenas scandal hit the headlines in Spain in 2013 when the El Pais newspaper published extracts from his ledgers which appeared to show illegal 'black money' payments to party officials, including Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

This money is thought to have come from the 'Guertel' corruption scandal in which contracts were granted to construction companies all over Spain, but especially in the communities of Valencia and Madrid, in exchange for illegal payments to PP members.

Rajoy and the PP have always denied the accusations, which also accuse the party of using this money to illegally finance election campaigns as well as refurbishing the party headquarters in Madrid.

However, Rajoy has still to fully explain text messages he sent to Barcenas, when Barcenas was placed in preventive custody in 2013 urging him to "be strong."

The news is a further blow to the PP coming just a day after the party suffered a poor result in the elections for the Andalusian regional parliament. Rajoy's party polled just over 26 percent of the vote, 14 percent down on their showing in the 2012 election in Andalusia. Endit