The Supreme Court is opening an investigation into two former regional premiers in Andalucia, Manuel Chaves and José Antonio Griñán, for their alleged roles in the ERE corruption case involving the misappropriation of public funds.
The investigation is looking into allegations that scores of people received illicit payouts from a fund set up by the Socialist government in 2001 to help firms make severance payments to laid-off workers.
The Supreme Court will be investigating the direct or indirect roles that Manuel Chaves and José Antonio Griñán may have played in the design of the ERE fund scheme, which handed out as much as €855 million between 2000 and 2010.
Former regional Socialist politicians Gaspar Zarrías, Mar Moreno and José Antonio Viera will also be investigated. All five are still either deputies or senators, and under Spanish law they can only be investigated by a higher court, not at a local level.