Supermarket magnate denies making illegal donations to PP

Juan Roig also claims to have no relationship with jailed PP treasurer Bárcenas.

The president of Spanish supermarket giant Mercadona, Juan Roig, denied in court on Monday having paid illegal donations of 90,000 and 150,000 euros in 2004 and 2008, respectively, to the Popular Party (PP), which were noted in the secret ledgers of former party treasurer Luis Bárcenas. Those papers contain details of alleged illegal donations made by members of the so-called Gürtel corruption network in exchange for favorable decisions in the awarding of public contracts, and also list alleged cash payments to top PP officials.

During questioning on Monday as part of the massive Gürtel inquiry, Roig said he had made two donations of 50,000 euros to the FAES think-tank, which is chaired by former PP Prime Minister José María Aznar, and Women for Africa, an NGO headed by former Socialist Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, in 2005 and 2012. However, the latter organization has stated that it has never received a euro from Roig or Mercadona.