Jail
Former International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato arrived at a Madrid prison Yesterday to start a four-and-a-half year jail term for using company credit cards to make costly personal purchases while running state-owned lender Bankia.
Rato, who was economy minister in Spain and a prominent figure in the ruling PP before moving to the IMF, chaired Bankia for two years until just before its state bailout in 2012.
Carrying two suitcases and dressed in jeans Rato thanked family and friends for their support during the legal process against him before entering the Soto del Real prison on the outskirts of Madrid.
He said he recognised all the mistakes he may have made and I asked for forgiveness.
Saudi Arabia
Lawmakers in the European Parliament yesterday threw their support behind a European Union- wide halt in arms sales to Saudi Arabia in the wake of the murder of a Saudi journalist at the country’s consulate building in the Turkish city of Istanbul earlier in the month.
In the resolution, MEPs agreed that the alleged torture and murder of Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 2 was not likely to have been carried out without the knowledge of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
Drugs
Spanish police say they have seized more than 6.3 metric tons of cocaine and broken up a Dutch- led drug-trafficking gang, arresting 16 people.
Police said in a statement yesterday the gang used a company importing fruit from Costa Rica as a cover for their operations. The cocaine was concealed in a banana shipment that arrived in at a port in Portugal and was taken by truck to Spain.
Police say the gang smuggled cocaine into Spain and the Netherlands and recently bought trucking companies to expand their operation.
The statement said U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and Portuguese detectives were involved in the investigation.
Police also seized firearms and 300,000 euros in cash in Wednesday’s operation in Malaga.
Gift
INDITEX founder and Spain’s richest man Amancio Ortega has just donated €29.4 million to Valencia regional health authorities to spend on cancer treatment and diagnostic equipment.
The tycoon’s foundation has so far set aside €300m for oncology departments across Spain.
Valencia regional president Ximo Puig says the generous gift would ‘improve patients’ lives’ and ‘save thousands.
Thanking the high-street fashion boss for his ‘social responsibility’, Puig recalled around 23,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed every year in the area.
