MADRID, May 27 (Reuters) – Police entered Spain’s ruling Socialist Party’s headquarters on Wednesday in search of information over a possible illegal payments scheme, Spanish media reported, at a time of various graft probes into Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s allies.
A Guardia Civil spokesperson told Reuters officers had entered the premises of the PSOE, as the party is known, but did not disclose further details since proceedings are secret.
Police were following a judicial request for information which requires prior notice and targets specific items, as distinct from an “entry and search” carried out without prior notice to gather all kinds of evidence.
PSOE spokesperson Montse Minguez told Catalunya Radio that the party was calm and fully cooperating with the courts, stressing that any information requested would be handed over.
Sanchez’s party has been beset by a slew of corruption scandals, including various investigations into key allies and family members.
A court last week said former Socialist premier and a close ally of Sanchez, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, was being investigated on suspicion of leading an influence-peddling and money-laundering network, in another blow to the leftist government. Zapatero denied any wrongdoing.
(Reporting by David Latona and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Andrew Cawthorne)
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