Ruíz-Mateos, José María

b. 1931, Cadiz

   Financier

   A right-wing financier and maverick politician, Ruiz-Mateos faced charges of fraud following the sequestration of RUMASA by the socialist PSOE government in 1983. Fleeing from justice, he was extradited from Germany after a brief period of imprisonment, but continued to evade custody, on one occasion strolling out of the high court in disguise. In 1989, in an attempt to acquire immunity from prosecution, he stood in the Euro-elections for a party which bore his own name and which won two seats. He then stood in the general elections of 1993 as part of his campaign to win back the companies he claimed had been stolen from him by the government, but went back into hiding following reports that he had been shot at during a campaign meeting. His electoral success was widely taken to be symptomatic of disillusionment with mainstream political parties. He was acquitted over RUMASA in 1997.

   See also: corruption

   PAUL HEYWOOD