• Judgment of the ERE. Six years in jail for Griñán and nine years of disqualification for Chaves
  • 'Case ERE'.Who is who
  • Investigation: This is how EL MUNDO uncovered the case of the ERE

Under the pretext of establishing a mechanism through which to expedite aid and subsidies to companies in difficulty and unemployed, the high socialist positions of the Junta de Andalucía systematized quite the opposite: that huge amounts of money be distributed to people related to socialism without any kind of control and that the workers who really needed them would run out of them.

How much does ERE fraud amount to?

The Sevillian Court ruling amounts to almost 680 million euros for money diverted to the illegal plot. The ruling accuses José Antonio Griñán and Manuel Chaves of having "palmar knowledge" of how their subordinates of the Ministry of Labor designed a mechanism with which to hide the embezzlement to the interveners to distribute the money among whom they arbitrarily wanted. This magnitude is unparalleled with that of any other case of political corruption uncovered in Spain. According to the sentence, the diversion ranged from 6,977,751 euros in 2000, in which the fraudulent system was established, to a record 94,744,185.09 euros in 2008. The annual average of money distracted from controls was 66 million to accumulate a total of 679,432,179.09 euros.

Who are the convicted and for what crimes?

In total there are 19 convicted people and two acquitted. The figure may seem small for a plot that has taken almost a decade to resolve in court. But it must be borne in mind that it is only the one known as the Political Piece , which addresses the responsibilities of the public offices that created and executed the diversion of public funds to avoid all relevant controls. The separate causes are much more prosecuted and will vent the most bizarre aspects, such as the political affiliation of the beneficiaries and the particular expenses of some political positions in prostitution or drugs.

A part of those convicted, as is the case of Manuel Chaves, has been only disqualified for a crime of prevarication; while another group, which also includes former Chairman of the Board José Antonio Griñán, has been under penalty of disqualification and imprisonment for embezzlement and prevarication.

How much do prison sentences add up?

In this first piece, prison sentences total 60 years. The highest sentences range between seven and eight years of imprisonment and fall on the political leaders of the Ministry of Employment who designed the network. For example, Antonio Fernández , former Employment counselor, and Francisco Javier Guerrero , former Director General of the Department, accumulate 7 years and 11 months in prison. A second block is headed by Griñán and other senior officials of the Board under which the illegal scheme was developed. They have been sentenced to 6 years in jail. Being penalties greater than two years, if the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence, they would enter prison even if they do not have a criminal record.

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Know more

  • Spain
  • Manuel Chaves
  • Supreme Court
  • Corruption
  • ERE statement
  • Andalusia
  • José Antonio Griñán
  • PSOE

Corruption The ERE ruling will be known next Tuesday

Public funds The Board recovers 10 years later the 13.8 million that Manuel Chaves gave to his daughter's company

Politics Ferraz limits the responsibility of the ERE to the Andalusian PSOE: "They are facts outside the current Government"