Prison sentence for former minister Ábalos over bribery scheme in mask contracts
Spanish justice has imposed a 24-year prison sentence on former Transport minister José Luis Ábalos after finding him guilty of heading a corrupt network that operated with public funds during the coronavirus crisis.
Prison sentence for former minister Ábalos over bribery scheme in mask contracts
Madrid's highest judicial body has sentenced to prison the former Public Works minister, José Luis Ábalos, for a period of 24 years. The ruling, issued by the high court, finds him guilty of leading a criminal gang dedicated to diverting state funds and accepting bribes in the award of health material during the pandemic.
Along with him, his former adviser Koldo García receives a sentence of 19 years for identical offences: criminal association, bribery, embezzlement and market coercion through influence-peddling. The two have been held in pre-trial detention for months.
A third person implicated, businessman Víctor de Aldama, was punished with four and a half years in prison, although he will not serve the sentence thanks to his assistance to prosecutors in clarifying the facts.
According to the magistrates, the defendants set up a mafia-like structure with assigned functions that perpetrated serious acts of bribery. In exchange for facilitating multi-million purchases of facial protection equipment, Ábalos is said to have received extra payments, payment of holiday stays with his family, gifts for his occasional partners and prostitution expenses.
In his statement to the court, De Aldama pointed to head of government Pedro Sánchez as the head of the organisation. He also claimed that the PSOE was illegally funded through hidden commissions derived from these business dealings. The President has categorically rejected such imputations, denying any connection between the diverted money and his party's coffers, and asserting that he was completely unaware of the illicit manoeuvres.
Ábalos was a key figure in Sánchez's political career and held the post of party Secretary for Organisation, which made him one of the most influential people in the Socialist party before the media scandal broke. The opposition has used the case to intensify pressure on the Government.
Information from Le Figaro
Source: Google News LU FR