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5 June 2006
MADRID – Eight defendants were accused on Monday of more than EUR 900 million in tax and document fraud at the TV channel Telecinco.
Prosecution lawyers announced further charges in the opening day of the Telecinco trial and want prison sentences of up to 14 years for the accused, who include Miguel Duran, the ex director general of the lottery ONCE.
The questioning of the accused is to be postponed until after the summer.
At the end of last month, a Spanish high court judge asked for permission to re-start proceedings against former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is also accused of involvement in the scandal.
Berlusconi has lost prime ministerial immunity after losing a general election earlier this year and faced corruption charges dating back from 1991-93.
The other eight defendants in the trial are executives and business partners from the Spanish channel.
One of them, Giovanni Acampora, could not attend the National Court in Madrid on Monday because he is in prison in Italy. His lawyer asked for the case to go ahead in his absence.
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]
Subject: Spanish news