A major blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Supreme Court has sentenced former socialist minister and close Sánchez ally José Luis Ábalos to 24 years in prison in a corruption case linked to COVID-19 mask contracts.
Spain’s Supreme Court has sentenced former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, once a senior figure in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE), to 24 years in prison for his role in a corruption scheme linked to the award of face mask contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court also sentenced his former aide Koldo García to 19 years in prison and businessman Víctor de Aldama to four and a half years.
The ruling, unanimously adopted by a seven-judge panel, found that the three men formed a criminal organisation with clearly defined roles aimed at obtaining financial benefits through corrupt practices. Ábalos and García were convicted of offences including participation in a criminal organisation, bribery, embezzlement of public funds and influence peddling.
According to the judgment, the scheme played a role in the awarding of contracts for the supply of 13 million face masks to Spain’s state-owned entities Puertos del Estado and railway infrastructure operator Adif through a company linked to Aldama during the most critical stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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