The former head of Spanish bank Caja Madrid became the first top banker to be held in jail over alleged mismanagement in the financial crisis, a court said on Friday. A court sent Miguel Blesa, 65, to a Madrid jail and said he must pay 2.5 million euros ($3.2 million) in bail to be released, while a judge investigates his management of the bank.
Judge Elpidio Jose Silva said in a written ruling that Blesa, who has links to senior members of Spain's governing Popular Party, presented an "undeniable flight risk". Caja Madrid was one of several old regional savings banks, many run by political appointees, that expanded during Spain's building boom and had to be merged after the bubble burst in 2008. The judge is investigating the take-over by Caja Madrid in 2008 of the City National Bank of Florida, which was caught up in the US subprime mortgage meltdown that year.
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