Aznar failed to declare company to parliament

28 June 2006

MADRID — A company owned by former prime minister José María Aznar was not declared in the parliamentary register of interests, it emerged on Wednesday.

Jordi Sevilla, the minister of public administration, said Famaztella S.L was not registered by Aznar, despite the law which obliges members of the Spanish parliament to do so.

The news came after it emerged Famaztella S.L. was paid EUR 10,000 a month since September 2004, by the media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

The money was paid for consultancy services.

Aznar was appointed to the board of Murdoch’s parent company NewsCorp last week and will be paid a reported salary of EUR 148,000.

Sevilla, a minister in the socialist government, said he did not want to make political capital out of the fact that Aznar’s company had not been registered.

Aznar has been a member of the Council of State since April 2005, but he is to abandon his post which could be seen as incompatible with his new role as a director of NewsCorp.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news