Prison sentences were handed out in Spain to 11 former Popular Party officials and businessmen found guilty of corruption.
The case, in the eastern region of Valencia, is just one part of a wider corruption scandal which revolves around a businessman, Francisco Correa, accused of giving bribes to parliamentarians from the ruling Popular Party and some civil servants in order to receive public contracts for his companies or those of his cronies.
The network is suspected of having embezzled tens of millions of euros from public funds between 1999 and 2005.
The High Court of Valencia said on Friday that Correa had been given a prison term of 13 years for influence peddling and bribery, among other charges. Other sentences, it said, ranged from three to 13 years.
During the proceedings, Correa had said that handing out gifts was “usual practice”.
Correa is also on trial in Madrid along with 36 others in a similar case that involves two former Popular Party treasurers.
Both the Popular Party and the Socialists have seen support ebbing away in recent times due in part to corruption scandals. Spain trudged along for nearly a year without a proper government as the electorate splintered among the two traditional groups and two newcomers, Podemos and Cuidadanos.
The Popular Party was eventually returned to power, stripped of its absolute majority and only as a minority government.
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