Spain’s elite shaken by ‘blackmailer’ cop’s recordings

MADRID: He may be behind bars, but a former police chief still strikes fear into the highest levels of the Spanish state thanks to his covert recordings of compromising conversations with the all-powerful.

Spain’s socialist justice minister Dolores Delgado is the latest high-profile personality to be embarrassed by leaked recordings of a past conversation with the "blackmailer", as Jose Manuel Villarejo is now known.

The monarchy also recently saw red after Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, former mistress of ex-King Juan Carlos I, allegedly revealed that he used her name and that of a cousin to hide property in Morocco and Swiss bank accounts, according to another leak.

The 67-year-old retired police superintendent is suspected of large-scale corruption, having allegedly done dirty work, such as blackmail or threats, on behalf of companies or rich individuals for decades.

"Villarejo led a parallel police force that worked to manipulate the justice system, erase or modify legal cases, for big corporations and millionaires," says investigative journalist Carlos Enrique Bayo, former director of the Publico daily which in 2015 revealed information about his shady activities.