corruption hit town of El Ejido (Almería), already used to scandalous accusations after the mayor, townhall auditor, several councillors and local buisnessmen were charged with stealing over 150 million euros of public money from town hall funds, was rocked again as a witness in the case told the investigating judge that "at least" 300,000€ of public money was used to bribe rival football teams into submission.

This is the latest revelation from the province in the "Operacion Poniente" scandal.

The money was alledgedly paid by local businessman José Carlos Lirola, one of three brothers who own a large rubbish collection and recycling business in the town, over 2008 to prevent Poli Ejido FC from slipping into relegation from the 2ªA category.

The witness, whose identity is protected by court order but is believed to have worked for the Lirola brothers, has handed over documents to the Judge which purport to prove how José Carlos would hand in false invoices to the townhall to be paid. This money was then used to fix matches.José Lirola, a fervent fan of Poli Ejido, was rumoured to have boasted around town of how he single handedly managed to prevent his team from relegation. The scheme was, says the witness, cooked by José Carlos with the full support of José Alemán, then city Auditor, and the mayor of El Ejido, Juan Enciso.

Mayor Juan Enciso yesterday denied any knowledge of this, but said that if Snr Lirola wanted to spend his own money supporting his team then it was up to him, and that if he had "ripped off" the townhall in the process then a judicial investigation should be mounted to investigate.

The Lirola Group has been invoicing some six million euros a year over the last decade, most of this from contracts with the El Ejido townhall. The protected witness claims that at least one million euros of this invoicing a year was fradulent.