It is no secret that former Caja Madrid president, Miguel Blesa, is the antithesis of an ideal businessman. Following a disastrous management tenure that led to Caja Madrid's desperate merger and a series of deals that are still under investigation in the courts, now being looked at are the premier credit cards that were awarded to bankers and government workers.
While some people never activated their premier credit cards, Blesa was renowned for relying on plastic money, spending around 19,000 euros per month when he knew that the savings bank's days were numbered. Now, most media sources acknowledge that Blesa was corrupt, and government officials and the courts are pointing to criminal activity. Years ago, elEcnonomista stood alone in our critique of Blesa as other media sources stood by silent.
We also offered maverick critiques of other bankers and politicians during a time of excess and wasteful spending, when lack of transparency was the rule of the game at Spain's top banks. Now, we are glad to see the Finance Ministry starting to investigate the entire Ibex to find out if there are other credit card companies were issuing cushy benefits and credit cards even if investigation will not look back to the savings banks where illegal practices were most common.
