Part of '3%' corruption case involving former CDC officials shelved

The National Court has provisionally shelved part of the '3%' corruption case involving former Catalan government officials that belonged to the now-defunct Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) party.

The so-called '3% case' refers to the structure set up to "illegally and covertly" finance the party founded by former president Jordi Pujol that governed Catalonia almost continuously from 1980 to 2015 until it was refounded in 2016 as PDeCAT.

Specifically, Judge Santiago Pedraz has temporarily tabled the investigation into former Catalan ministers Jordi Jané, Felip Puig, Irene Rigau, and Germà Gordó, as well as high-ranking officials Daniel Osàcar and Andreu Viloca, all of whom were accused of illicitly financing the party with donations.

According to Pedraz, there is "no evidence" of a black money scheme. The judge also points out that the former officials claimed the donations were made as members of the party, an explanation that has not been proven incorrect by the investigation.

The case was sent to trial last November, with prosecutors requesting prison sentences of up to 21 years for around 30 former political leaders, accusing them of rigging public tenders in exchange for commissions to fund the organization.

"Illegally and covertly" financing party

Spain's National Court judge José de la Mata stated in July 2020 that a structure had been set up to "illegally and covertly" finance CDC for years.

CDC governed Catalonia almost continuously from 1980 to 2015 – except for seven years from 2003 to 2010 – before it was turned into center-right pro-independence PDeCAT and CDC was officially dissolved in 2016. 

In turn, PDeCAT was a central pillar in the formation of former president Carles Puigdemont's pro-independence Junts per Catalunya platform in the autumn of 2017, but afterward, Junts became a separate party, bringing over most of the senior officials from PDeCAT, which still exists but has no parliamentary representation.