Citizens against corruption

1

Index

- Who we are - (page 3)Organised citizen collectives responsible for uncovering some of the main corruption cases that are shaking Spanish politics today.

- Citizens Against Corruption: The story of a Citizen Lawsuit – (Page 6)The frst lawsuit against bankers in Spain fled to hold them accountable for the economic crisis: the citizen lawsuit of “15MpaRato” against the foremost Spanish banker & politician (Rodrigo Rato, president of the IMF before Strauss-Kahn).

- “Blesa's emails” & the “Black” credit cards' scandal – (Page 19)These cases reveal criminal manoeuvres carried out by managers of Spanish banks, uncovering 15.5 million Euros in tax evasion and the involvement of all major political parties and trade unions. This information came to light thanks to leaks facilitated by the organised citizen groups presented in this dossier.

- Legal actions against the directives of the Bank of Spain – (Page 24)

- We are not done yet – (Page 25)- Sue Bankia- The importance of citizen leaks: XnetLeaks- Rato did not act alone and will not fall alone

Who we are

Xnet promotes, along with other citizens and activists, the guerrilla communication device called 15MpaRato, built to pursue the political and fnancial actors responsible for the crisis.

15mparato.wordpress.com15MpaRato (2012 - head ofce in Barcelona), driven by Xnet, is a group of organised citizens, whose aim is to put at end to economic and political impunity while naming those who are responsible for the crisis. The group emerged on May 16th, 2012 during the demonstrations on the frst anniversary of the 15M - Indignados movement. They launched a citizen lawsuit against Rodrigo Rato (former Vice-president of the PP led Government and the Minister of Economy - during Aznar's government - from 1996 to

2004, IMF Managing Director until his resignation in June 2007 and Bankia's president from 2010 to 2012) and his accomplices at Bankia (the bank at the centre of the biggest bailout for a Spanish fnancial institution).

xnet-x.net/enXnet (2008 - head ofce in Barcelona - ex EXGAE) is a group of specialised activists working in diferent felds related to: online democracy (participation mechanisms and citizen control of power and institutions); the advocacy of a neutral and free Internet; the free circulation of culture, knowledge and information and the defence of citizen journalism for the right to know, inform and be informed; the technical, communication and legal fght against corruption; and technopolitics understood as the practice of

networking and taking action for empowerment, justice and social transformation. The work done as EXGAE, is part of a citizen action initiative that led to the dismantling of the top levels of management at the SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, the principal Spanish collecting society), during Teddy Bautista's tenure there. http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2011/07/01/actualidad/1309471204_850215.html

xnet-x.net/en/ xnet leak s XnetLeaks is a channel created to securely link citizens with evidence of corruption to journalists and legal experts. It is a tool of Xnet's press team and operates in collaboration with 15MpaRato and the X Party's Anti-corruption Commission. It is through this channel and the Anti-corruption Commission that “Blesa's Emails” and the “Black” Credit Cards” were brought to light.

CITIZENS AGAINST CORRUPTION: THE STORY OF A CITIZEN LAWSUIT

May 15th, 2011Following more than three years of an economic crisis brought on by fnancial and real estate speculation and poor management by public and private institutions, the main squares in cities and towns throughout the Spanish territory were peacefully occupied for weeks by thousands of people proclaiming, ”We are not commodities in the hands of politicians and bankers”.The movement, which would later be called the "Indignados" movement, better known as 15M, triggered a social revolution that is still on-going, where collectives of activists and citizens organise themselves into groupsthat focus on specifc issues.http://www.democraciarealya.es/manifesto-comun/manifesto-english/

May 16th-17th, 2012One year later, on the 15M's 1st anniversary in Barcelona, a group of citizens decide to sue the biggest banker in Spain, Rodrigo Rato, as one of the main fgures responsible for the crisis, and his accomplices.

Rato is the symbol of the political and fnancial impunity and the revolving doors having been: Banker Finance→Minister IMF President Banker→ →

We work under the name of 15MpaRato [https://15mparato.wordpress.com/citizens-against-corruption/], a play on words meaning that organised society, resulting from the '15M movement', has Rodrigo Rato as its number one target, and also meaning that 15M will live for a “long time”, a “long Rato".

15MpaRato was founded and our intentions were proclaimed as the result of a call (at that time anonymous) from Xnet: A message for #12M15M from the Internet quarter https://xnet-x.net/en/a-message-for-12m15m-from-the-internet-quarter/

These are the objectives that were laid out:

• This is not a crisis; it is not a divine punishment but an organised scam and as such it has people who are responsible with names and surnames.

• To put an end to impunity and plots involving governments and corporations.

• We will bailout ourselves with money recovered from the corrupt: the bailout must be paid for with the money they have stolen, our money.

• The MOU (Memorandum of Understanding signed in December 2012 by Spain and the European Commission to recapitalise private banks with € 100,000 million) and the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) imposed by the EU, used as one of the main excuses for the bankruptcy of Bankia *. These are nothing more than legal tricks to bypass the contractual legality guaranteed historically by principles such as the Par Conditio Creditorum. If the memorandum hadn't been signed, savers would have had priority over other creditors, and would have had the right to lose proportionately in the same way, in equal credit conditions. It wouldn't have been possible to rescue some, the foreign banks, and abandon others, the shareholders. Stopping this process would have been possible with the judicial seizure of Bankia, as we explain in the text, "From Justice" http://15mparato.wordpress.com/a-toda-troika-le-llega-su-15m/

* In May 2012, given Bankia's unsustainable economic situation (the reason for the resignation of its President, Rodrigo Rato), and under the Government of Mariano Rajoy; this bank was nationalised by the FROB (Fund for orderly bank restructuring, created in Spain as a result of the 2008 fnancial crisis). One of the largest economic losses in the country's banking history was paved over with public money.

Let us never forget that Bankia is the biggest hole, the hole sine qua non of the Spanish economy, of the great crisis of the Spanish economy.

May 23rd, 2012A campaign was launched to encourage citizens to submit any information which might serve to imprison Rato. The initiative received widespread media coverage.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2012/05/22/navegante/1337708684.htmlhttp://politica.elpais.com/politica/2012/05/22/actualidad/1337715444_273219.html http://www.publico.es/espana/434157/15mparato-quiere-juzgar-a-los-responsables-de-la-crisishttp://www.eldiario.es/zonacritica/investigara-Rodrigo-Rato-identifcar-responsables_6_7759231.htmlhttp://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1468451/0/surge-15mparato/denuncia-ciudadana/culpables-crisis/

June 4th, 2012Thanks to citizen collaboration, evidence that was expected to be gathered over the course of a year was collected in only two weeks.

The private prosecutors were brought together - small savers and families who had lost everything due to Bankia's bankruptcy - and the drafting of the lawsuit was almost complete. People who were sold Bankia shares and 'Preferred Shares' were not properly informed, not informed at all, lied to or not given any other choice. Preferred Shares were of high fnancial risk and were sold with the understanding that they were fxed-income securities when they were not.

June 5th, 201215MpaRato launched the first political crowdfunding in the history of Spain, reaching 130% of its goal (15,000 Euros) in just 24 hours (it would have been attained in only 5 hours if the servers had been able to withstand the food of visits: 11,000 in the frst hour).

http://goteo.org/project/crowdfundparato/needshttp://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1500914/0/recaudan/dinero-querella-rato/15MpaRato/http://www.publico.es/espana/435910/el-dinero-para-la-querella-contra-rato-en-tiempo-record?facehttp://www.abc.es/20120605/economia/abci-rato-crowdfunding-denuncia-201206051126.htmlhttp://ictlogy.net/sociedadred/20120606-crowdfunding-politico-la-pieza-que-faltaba-en-la-nueva-politica-ciudadana/

June 7th, 2012Such is the scope of the media initiative that one day after collecting the money required - in what could be seen as an opportunistic move – UPyD, a centre-right political party, publicly announced the fling of another lawsuit against Rodrigo Rato, dating it three days before (June 11th) the one which had already been announced by 15MpaRato, stepping over and ignoring all of the work done by civil society.Update: in 2016 , after their very bad results in the Spanish elections, UPyD withdraws its lawsuit showing its opportuinistic and partisan essence.

June 14th, 201215MpaRato's much broader lawsuit was fled. This was a type of lawsuit where the ultimate goal is to recover the money of those who were scammed. It represented 16 people who were afected, eventually reaching 44 participants in successive appearances. It asked for Bail → Foreclosure → Jail.

The lawsuit fled by 15MpaRato focused on demonstrating that there was a scam, forgery and manipulation of documents and misleading advertising with the intention to defraud.It included the crimes covered by article 282BIS of the Criminal Code and introduced the suit for the Preferred Shares.

THE KEYS TO THE LAWSUIT

• People trust 15MpaRato. Employees, shareholders and Preferred Shareholders have contacted the collective throughout the entire process and provided valuable information.

• Apart from the crimes and negligent administration of Caja Madrid * and Bankia, which acted against theirown interests, 15MpaRato's lawsuit has added article 282BIS of the Criminal Code which contemplatesforgery (falsification of documents), and included the Preferred Shares scam in the judicial process. Thereasoning for this is that many of Bankia's shareholders were Preferred Shareholders who were not given other options than trading their Preferred Shares for shares of the Bank. * The oldest Spanish savings bank, which, after the restructuring of the fnancial system in Spain, became part ofBankia with six other Spanish savings banks.

• 15MpaRato publishes any useful information, making it available for everyone, and letting others know if the evidence obtained may be useful for more people.

• UPyD's tactics tend to create a macro process that can be extended eternally. 15MpaRato's strategy is to speed up the process with fewer high-profle testimonies and more concrete evidence. UPyD doesn't provide their own evidence for the case and they request more evidence than we do (useful for both). UPyD focuses on the political arena, calling heavyweights to testify, few of who are useful and many of who slow down the entire process. We focus on finding evidence so that the afected people we represent can win.

For all this, it is thanks to 15MpaRato that key evidence in the case was put forward: the sales pitch used to sell Preferred Shares, the information requests to IBERCLEAR * and the reports from the National Stock Exchange Commission (CNMV).

* The Spanish central securities depositary responsible for the accounting records and the ofsetting and settlement of securities listed on the Spanish stock exchanges.

Here is some of the most important evidence to date:

DO NOT SHOW THE CLIENTS

Preferred shares are complex fnancial products that can only be legally sold to people with demonstrated fnancial knowledge and after having received an explanation of the risks.

Bankia's own workers leaked an internal document to 15MpaRato from the entity used as a "sales pitch to sell Preferred Shares" in which, besides encouraging the sale of these shares to individuals such as small savers andfamilies without any fnancial knowledge, printed on every page was a notice which read: "This information should not be visible to customers".

http://15mparato.fles.wordpress.com/2013/10/15-argumentos-de-venta-propuestos.p df

THE CNMV REPORT, WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

March 18th, 2013The leaking of the CNMV report that had been requested by 15MpaRato, has been extremely important as it demonstrates that the Preferred Shares were indeed a scam.

This document shows how not a single one; zero Preferred Shares were sold to big entities or people with any fnancial knowledge, since no one able to understand what they were would have bought them. Preferred shares were a high fnancial risk and were sold with the understanding that they were fxed-income securities when they were not and, unlike deposits, they aren’t insured by the government against losses.

Preferred Shares were sold targeting preferably individuals, families and small savers, in more than 90%of the cases.

In the words of the CNMV, this report * proves that the savings banks involved did not comply with the Securities Market Laws, opening the door to initiate processes not only in civil courts, as has been the case until now, but also in criminal courts, which could also afect all entities that marketed similar products.

* About the trading practices of preferred shares and subordinated debt of Caja Madrid, Bancaja and subsequently Bankia.

This document allows tens of thousands of people who were scammed to win their cases.http://15mparato.fles.wordpress.com/2013/09/cce00000.pdf

The CNMV report demonstrates that the Preferred Shares were only sold to individuals, families and small savers

THE COURT-APPOINTED EXPERT REPORT

The report issued by the experts from the Bank of Spain proves us right in our lawsuit: the public information published regarding Bankia's fotation was false and Rato and his accomplices knew it and concealed it. Bankia was a scam and they knew it.https://15mparato.fles.wordpress.com/2014/12/informe-bankia-1.pdf https://15mparato.fles.wordpress.com/2014/12/informe-bankia-2.pdf

- BFA/Bankia's fnancial statements included in the issue prospectus did not portray the true image of the entity.- Nor did Bankia's fnancial statements represent the REAL situation of the bank.- Goirigolzarri's new managing board has also tried to pretty up their accounts. Read about it here:http://www.publico.es/dinero/560140/lo-de-bankia-fue-un-fraude-masivo-rato-lo-sabia-y-lo-oculto

15MpaRato achieved a record bail of 800 million euros for the Bankia IPO scam. The judge set a liability bond for evidence of crimes covered by article 282 bis of the Penal Code (forgery), giving credence to 15MpaRato's complaint. Later, and shamefully, the Spanish National Court lowered the liability bond from 800 to 34 million euros.http://www.elconfdencial.com/espana/2015-02-13/el-juez-andreu-impone-una-fanza-de-800-millones-por-el-caso-bankia_711662/ http://www.publico.es/politica/15mparato-califca-vergueenza-reduccion-fanza.html

It is important to recall that neither UPyD nor any other party or organisation, except for 15MpaRato, included what is contemplated in Art. 282 bis of the Spanish Penal Code regarding forgery in their lawsuit, which is exactly what the Bank of Spain’s expert report proves.

The 15MpaRato lawsuit:

“BLESA'S EMAILS” & THE “BLACK” CREDIT CARDS

Blesa's EmailsIn December 2013, the media and citizens learned about the contents of around 8000 emails from Caja Madrid (later Bankia) thanks to the work we were doing with another citizen action device, the X Party's Anti-corruption Commission http://partidox.org/anti-corruption-commission/.

We brought to light leaks that revealed the email communications of Miguel Blesa during his time as Caja Madrid's president and describing the criminal manoeuvres carried out by managers at Caja Madrid. We uncovered corruption in the highest echelons of power and how we were responsible for bailing out Bankia because Caja Madrid spent its money on favours and bribes.

How were these documents leaked? Through a prototype of what we now call XnetLeaks https://xnet-x.net/en/ xnet leak s / : a secure channel to link citizens with evidence of corruption to journalists and legal experts.

Not long after the citizen commission was formed, it received an anonymous email with the following:"(...) I have a large and very important amount of information that I bet draws a clear picture of the institutional

corruption in Spain (...)”.

The source was quickly put in contact with journalists from elDiario.es and later El Mundo. In the meantime, and in parallel, InfoLibre also worked in-depth on the emails provided by the source.Furthermore, as soon as we discovered the contents, we asked the judge to admit them as evidence, which he

did (though only partially and after three attempts): Blesa's Emails are, as we were denouncing, key legal evidence of Bankia's scam against society and specifcally against the defrauded preferred shareholders.

The Black Cards caseNine months after the leak of “Blesa's Emails”, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor drafted a report which asked the judge of our lawsuit to investigate the existence of so-called “Black Cards” as part of the Bankia scam.

But how could the Anti-corruption Prosecutor know of the existence of these Black Cards which, apperently, didnot appear in Bankia's accounts?

The same way as every other citizen, through the documents published by the press thanks to our leak, by reading the frst article about the issue, on eldiario.es: “thanks to an anonymous source who was channelled through collaborators of the X party's Anti-corruption Commission”, and which Bankia itself has recognised.http://www.elboletin.com/economia/106659/bankia-tarjetas-opacas-fltracion-bankia.html

Visa Black Cards are the most luxurious range ofered by the frm and are designed for multimillionaire fortunes.

Blesa's Emails reveal that almost all of Caja Madrid's managers (and later Bankia), during at least the presidencies of Miguel Blesa and Rodrigo Rato, had had access to “Black” Visa credit cards issued by the bank with which, over the course of years, they had made personal charges worth hundreds of thousands of Euros against the savings accounts of Bankia and, thereby, evading 15.5 million Euros in taxes.

Judge Andreu, head of the case, opened a new separate piece on the scandal within the Bankia case. Without the action of civil society, we would have never known about these facts.

Having said this: This scandal reveals NOT JUST that they were buying individual allegiances; they were also buying political parties, trade unions and, ultimately, the government and the opposition. While they staged their confrontations before the public, they were plotting together so that the PP (Popular Party, political party currently in power with an absolute majority) and their friends could loot Bankia in exchange for loans to political parties and trade unions.

There are 86 people involved from every main political party and trade union.

http://www.elperiodico.com/es/grafcos/economia/los-benefciados-las-tarjetas-opacas-caja-madrid-6630/

Rodrigo Rato, the former president of the IMF, and his accomplice, the banker Miguel Blesa, have had to put up their own property, a total of 19 million Euros, in personal bail (two of the most substantial bonds in the history of Spain), for the "allegedly unlawful" expenses they charged using the Black Cards and they are losing all their privileges.http://www.elmundo.es/economia/2014/10/16/543f2c4ca474136548b456c.html

JAIL SENTENCE FOR VISA BLACK CARDS

Miguel Blesa and Rodrigo Rato sentenced to 6 and 4 years and a half of jail for the Visa Black Cards scandalin frst instance. The investigation, initiated after "Blesa's Emails" reached the public opinion thanks to 15MpaRato and Xnet, ended up with jail sentence for misappropriation for the two former presidents of Caja Madrid and all other accused, adding to a total of 65 convicted by Black Cards.

Blesa's Emails - Open AccessTHE CITIZEN'S RIGHT TO KNOW THE HISTORICAL FACTS

At Xnet we facilitate access to and consultations of'Blesa's Emails' through an online search engine. Weprovide this service so that journalists, researchers, afectedgroups and citizens can discover the true story as narratedby the emails exchanged between Bankia's board ofdirectors: a plot to plunder a country, the story of how theSpanish economic crisis began.

http://correosdeblesa.com/

https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/xnet/blesa%27s-emails-end-of-era

THEATRE PLAYBECOME A BANKER - BLACK CARDS (Hazte Banquero)

“Everything they wanted to hide from you, told in their own words”

This show is a true story and, as such, it is dramatic, but, most of all, it is absurd and atrociously comical. // Datatheatre // Documentary theatre // Open source theatre

The plot we (Xnet and 15MpaRato, now authors of this play) reveal by leaking the “Correos de Blesa” (the bank director's Emails), is the story of how this “crisis” was created. We, the people who laid bare the Bankia case, and revealed the Blesa Emails and the Black Cards scandals, are now telling the public what really happened. We use the actual words written by those responsible, the culpable bankers and politicians. We show, from within, from the very engine room of the “crisis”, how it was machinated and, moreover, how, against all odds, we are changing the ending they had planned.

https://xnet-x.net/en/become-a-banker/

LEGAL ACTIONS AGAINST THE DIRECTIVES OF THE BANK OF SPAIN

15MpaRato takes legal action against the Bank of Spain due to unequivocal indications of crimes of noncompliance with its legal functions, despite having sufcient elements on the table, to correct the existing situation as well as administrative prevarication; Use of functions to facilitate participation and infuence by ofcial or authority and false testimony.

As a result of these actions the following imputations and resignations have taken place:

- Herrera García-Canturri: General Director of Supervision of the Bank of Spain (has resigned)- Comín Rodríguez: second from the General Director of Supervision of the Bank of Spain (has resigned)- González González: Head of the Inspection Department of the Bank of Spain (has resigned)- Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez: Former Governor of the Banco de España- Fernando Restoy: former Deputy Governor of the Banco de España- Julio Segura: former president of the CNMV

WE ARE NOT DONE YET

SUE BANKIABankia was a fraud and we, the people, are winning. 15MpaRato also refers cases for civil lawsuits, helping many people who have been scammed to recover their money thanks to the evidence we have made available.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RELEVANT INFORMATION PROVIDED BY CITIZENS XNETLEAKS

We have created a channel to enable citizens to safely report corruption cases: XnetLeaks.

https://xnet-x.net/en/ xnetleaks /

The Xnet team work to denounce, both in the media and/or legally, the issues raised by the cases they receive. In parallel, Xnet works to empower and train active citizens to fght back against corruption.

RATO DID NOT ACT ALONE AND WILL NOT FALL ALONE

Three years after 15MpaRato got its start, the fall of Rodrigo Rato is a collective victory that has been achieved by organised citizens. It was never a personal goal for the team; it was a strategic objective.

We said that Rato was just the frst. Those responsible for the crisis are going down. Now we’re targeting their accomplices.

http://15mparato.crowdfunding.xnet-x.net/

https://15mparato.wordpress.com/2015/04/20/complices-responsables-rato-bankia/