Spain: Socialist Pedro Sánchez's former minister sentenced to prison
The Spanish prime minister, openly an enemy of Donald Trump and a critic of Javier Milei, has also been hit with other legal scandals. His wife and brother are under investigation for alleged influence peddling and corruption. In addition, last week, Spain's Supreme Court sentenced Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz to a two-year disqualification from holding office for leaking secrets to harm the opposition.
File image of José Luis Ábalos.
A Spanish judge on Thursday agreed to remand José Luis Ábalos, former transport minister and former secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), in custody for his alleged involvement in a corruption case. The news adds to the corruption scandals surrounding leftist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Ábalos' former assistant, Koldo García, who is also implicated in this complex case involving the irregular sale of masks to the administrations during the COVID-19 pandemic, must also be placed in provisional prison as he was deemed a flight risk, the judge said in a statement.
"In addition to there being more than enough evidence of the possible commission of serious criminal acts, the possible risk that these defendants could evade justice is, at this time, extreme," explains the note referring to Ábalos, who was relieved of his post as minister in 2021 but still serves as a deputy, and García.
Both must enter provisional prison "without bail," as decided by Supreme Court Judge Leopoldo Puente after the hearing held on Thursday morning, where the prosecution requested this sentence.
The judge had already requested at the beginning of the month that both José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García and businessman Víctor de Aldama be sent to trial for alleged crimes of integration in a criminal organization, bribery, use of privileged information, influence peddling and embezzlement.
A government surrounded by corruption
Just last week, the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz to a two-year disqualification from holding office for leaking secrets to harm the opposition.
The court considers that the attorney general, appointed in 2022 at the proposal of the leftist government, committed a crime of disclosure of reserved data and also fined him 7,300 euros (about $8,400).
Possible sentences
In its indictment, 24 years in prison were requested for Ábalos and 19 and a half years for Koldo García. In the case of Víctor de Aldama, the requested sentence was seven years.
The prosecution's brief mentions "intent of enrichment" of the three defendants, who allegedly had established a "criminal agreement" in which "each of them assumed a different and complementary role."
The three took advantage of Ábalos' position in the Spanish government to "favor ... companies whose interests would benefit and promote Víctor de Aldama ... in contracts with the public administration whenever there was an opportunity."
Legal turbulence for Sánchez
Ábalos was one of Sánchez's key confidants and key to his rise to prime minister in 2018 through a motion of censure to the previous right-wing executive. His prison sentence is the latest blow to the prime minister.
The accusations facing another of Sánchez's former close collaborators, Santos Cerdán, are more complex. He was released last week on parole after five months in custody for another investigation for alleged corruption.
The former No. 3 in the PSOE, succeeding Ábalos, Cerdán is suspected of being at the center of a scheme to collect money in exchange for illegal public works concessions.
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