Sentenced to 24 years in prison for corruption was sentenced as announced by the Madrid High Court, José Luis Abalos, former Minister of Transportation of Spain and a close associate of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
The case, which involved suspicions of irregular contracts for the sale of face masks during the Covid-19, has been a thorn in the side of the Spanish prime minister, whose staff and professional associates are implicated in a series of legal cases.
The Supreme Court sentenced the former minister to 24 years in prison and his former advisor, Coldo García, to 19 years in prison for participation in a criminal organization, corruption, embezzlement of public funds, and abuse of influence.
The two convicted men are currently in pretrial detention.
The ruling, which was adopted unanimously, “it is concluded that the three defendants had formed a criminal organization with a division of roles, which committed serious corruption offenses.”
The third person on trial with them, businessman Victor de Aldama, was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison, the court announced. The execution of his sentence has been suspended due to his cooperation with the investigation.
This complex case has been making headlines in the Spanish press for months.
In exchange for being awarded contracts to sell millions of masks during the pandemic, José Luis Abalos received additional monthly payments, payment for his family vacations, services for his mistresses, and even payments to sex workers.
Businessman Víctor de Aldama testified in court that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was the head of the “gang” that ran the network and that the Socialist Party (PSOE), of which the Spanish prime minister has been the leader since 2017, had benefited from illegal financing through these illicit kickbacks.
The former minister was a key figure in Pedro Sánchez’s rise to the top and was the most powerful man in the party as its organizational director.
Pedro Sánchez, who is facing fierce attacks from the opposition, denies any ties to the trio of convicted individuals and the funds spent by the PSOE, and denies having been aware of any illegal activity.
