A media report has accused Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of receiving illicit cash payments when he was a minister in the late 1990s.\n<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Spain\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s daily El Mundo<\/i> published excerpts from the ledger entries of a secret slush fund run by the governing People\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Party (PP), implicating Rajoy and other senior PP members in the corruption scandal.\n<\/p>\n
The document — purportedly handwritten by former PP treasurer and senator Luis Barcenas — showed the names of the Spanish prime minister and the PP members as well as the amounts each had allegedly received.\n<\/p>\n
According to the report, the illegal payments to Rojoy included an amount of 42,000 euros ($53,705) in 1997, and two payments of 12,600 euros ($16,111) in 1998.\n<\/p>\n
The document was sent to the country\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s High Court on Monday, the Spanish daily said.\n<\/p>\n
Barcenas, who confirmed the authenticity of the ledgers last week, is currently being held in custody in connection with several corruption charges.\n<\/p>\n
In January, similar claims by the El Pais<\/i>, another Spanish newspaper, ignited protest rallies against the Spanish prime minister and drew calls from the opposition Socialist Party for Rajoy\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s resignation.\n<\/p>\n
However, Rajoy and the PP have repeatedly denied the allegations.\n<\/p>\n
“The Popular Party reiterates that it does not know of the notes or their content, and it does not in any way recognize them as the accounts of this political organization,” the Spanish government said in a statement issued on Tuesday.\n<\/p>\n
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