Gürtel mastermind granted bail two years after his arrest

Francisco Correa, the alleged mastermind behind the so-called Gürtel multi-million-euro kickback-for-contracts scheme, was granted bail of 15 million euros on Tuesday, nearly two-a-half years after his arrest.

Madrid High Court Judge Antonio Pedreira agreed to release Correa after determining the investigatory stage was nearly completed and there was little risk that Correa could tamper with any of the evidence. As part of his release conditions, Correa will have to turn over his passport, wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and report to court each Monday and Friday until his trial.

This was the fifth time lawyers for Correa, who is being held in Madrid's Soto de Real prison, had asked for his release. His alleged accomplice, Pablo Crespo, the former secretary of the Popular Party in Galicia, remains in prison, although the judge dropped his bail from 1.2 million euros to 600,000. Antoine Sánchez, Correa's cousin and alleged co-conspirator, was released in January after Pedreira dropped his bail from 600,000 to 40,000.

Correa and Crespo were arrested on February 12, 2009 after they were charged by High Court Judge Baltasar Garzón of leading a string of corrupt businessmen who offered kickbacks to an array of PP officials in Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha and Valencia for juicy public contracts. The Gürtel inquiry ? named after the German translation for Correa ? has engulfed the opposition party. More than a dozen mid- to high-ranking PP officials have been indicted, including former party treasurer Luis Bárcenas and the former mayors of Arganda del Rey and Pozuelo de Alarcón.

Pedreira, who is leading the Madrid inquiry, announced in his order to release Correa that investigators had recovered some 24 million euros the defendant had stashed in foreign bank accounts.