Camps called tailor repeatedly following arrest, say police

A police officer said Monday that former Valencia premier Francisco Camps made repeated phone calls to tailor José Tomás while he was being questioned by investigators in the so-called suit-gate case.

The tailor never picked up the phone, said the officer, who was called to testify at Camps' ongoing bribery trial before the Valencia High Court.

Camps later explained that he was traveling on a highway and the signal from his cellphone kept cutting him off.

The calls were made soon after the alleged Gürtel ringleader Francisco Correa was arrested in February 2009, according to court testimony.

Camps is accused of accepting dress suits from the Gürtel ring of corrupt businessmen in exchange for fat contracts with the regional government. His trial co-defendant, Ricardo Costa, the former Popular Party (PP) secretary general in Valencia, is also said to have gotten suits and other dress accessories.

Both Camps and Costa claim that they paid for their own suits, but several employees from the Forever Young and Milano men's shops testified last week that neither man paid for their clothes.

Tomás, who also said that none of the clothes he tailored were paid for by the defendants, is expected to take the stand on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the owner of Sastgor, a Navarre clothing manufacturer which provides suits to Forever Young and Milano, said he sent 12 dress suits in Camps' name and six pants and one suit for Costa.

"The suits were made under Francisco Camps name and sent to the sotres,2 said Franscico Gorina. The defense team has tried to establish that neither Camps nor Costa had any suits made in their names.

Also taking stand were three officers who took part in the raid at the home of José Luis Izquierdo, Correa's alleged accountant. They said he appeared nervous as they were searching his home. "One colleague noticed how he was clinching his fist," said one of the officers.