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Report: BBVA fires exec allegedly involved in wiretapping allegations

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Report: BBVA fires exec allegedly involved in wiretapping allegations

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA has fired an executive allegedly involved in wiretapping allegations against the bank, El País reported.

The dismissal follows an internal investigation, according to the Sept. 24 report.

The allegations surfaced in January after two Spanish websites reported that BBVA had paid large sums of money in 2004 and 2005 to a security company to spy on executives and government officials who favored a takeover of the lender. The Spanish high court is investigating the matter, and the lender's former CEO and other executives have been called to appear before the judge.

Antonio Béjar, who was head of a Madrid real estate development controlled by BBVA, has been fired after being suspended in July. The paper said Béjar had appeared before the judge investigating the case in July, but that BBVA had said his dismissal had nothing to do with his appearance.

Expansión reported that Béjar had admitted to the judge that BBVA had hired security firm Grupo Cenyt to do various jobs for it. The firm was run by retired police chief José Manuel Villarejo, who has been in pretrial custody since November 2017 over allegations of wiretaps of influential people in Spain. Villarejo reportedly testified that the bank had paid him for his services.

The paper said Béjar had told the judge the work included investigating the assets of large delinquent clients to recover debts.