Bank deposits by Bárcenas’ wife under scrutiny

Anticorruption prosecutors have discovered unusual transactions of more than 600,000 euros over a five-year period relating to bank accounts held by the wife of former Popular Party (PP) treasurer Luis Bárcenas.

Rosalía Iglesias has admitted that she had no job, nor did she receive any income during this period, according to her testimony before the Madrid regional High Court in 2010.

Prosecutors are trying to pinpoint the sources of 38 million euros Bárcenas has admitted holding in Swiss bank accounts. The former PP senator told the High Court last week that all of his money came from overseas investments, real estate and art dealings, with not a single euro coming from the PP's donations or any kickbacks.

Anticorruption investigators have five specific transactions on their radar screen, made by Iglesias between 2003 and 2008. One of these was a deposit of 500,000 euros in 500-euro notes at the beginning of 2006 in a Caja Madrid account. The five operations are detailed in a filing by investigators that was last month handed to High Court Judge Pablo Ruz. Ruz is handling the massive Gürtel contracts-for-kickbacks investigation that involves PP officials in various administrations and a network of businessmen.