Yesterday the Spanish Civil Guard carried out 9 simultaneous searches of public buildings which form part of Madrid town hall. The Environment agency and Urban planning departments are being investigated together with 3 town councils -Centro, Chamber\u00ed and San Blas. <\/p>\n
Police sources confirmed that the operation nicknamed Guateque<\/em> is the result of an investigation into presumed corrupt behaviour of some of Madrid town hall\u2019s officials. The Vice Mayor of Madrid, Manuel Cobo, said that there were around 16 town hall workers involved in the case and so far at least 3 had been arrested this morning. The charges range from bribery, neglect of duty and the abuse of power. <\/p>\n In a press conference Cobo went on to emphasise that the majority of those under investigation have been working for many years in Madrid\u2019s town hall and there were no elected councillors or high ranking officials under investigation. He said that the investigation was looking into the charging of illegal commissions paid in exchange for licenses for the opening of small businesses such as shops, restaurants and discos. <\/p>\n Cobo had not been able to put a figure on the amount of the commission paid to town hall officials involved in the case. He emphasised again that the operation was against civil servants within Madrid\u2019s town hall and that it wasn\u2019t the town hall itself that was being investigated. He couldn\u2019t rule out whether there would be any further arrests. <\/p>\n The investigation which has been underway since this summer has involved 10 telephone lines being tapped as well as houses and businesses being searched. Police carrying out the investigation have seized documents and computers. <\/p>\n Madrid\u2019s Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallard\u00f3n said that \u2018no type of irregular behaviour by Madrid town hall employees would be tolerated\u2019. Moreover he said that he didn\u2019t want this case to tarnish the reputation of the rest of the town hall\u2019s workforce. <\/p>\n