Key facts
- Spain's Supreme Court sentenced former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos to 24 years in prison.
- The conviction relates to a corruption scheme involving rigged COVID-19 mask contracts.
- Ábalos was found guilty of criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement, and influence peddling.
- His former aide, Koldo García, received a 19-year sentence.
- Businessman Víctor de Aldama was sentenced to four and a half years for cooperation.
Spain's Supreme Court has sentenced former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos to 24 years in prison for his role in a corruption scheme linked to COVID-19 mask contracts. Ábalos, once a senior figure in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Party (PSOE), was convicted of offences including participation in a criminal organisation, bribery, embezzlement of public funds, and influence peddling.
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 found that the three men formed a criminal organisation to obtain financial benefits through corrupt practices, including the awarding of contracts for 13 million face masks to state-owned entities Puertos del Estado and Adif.
Ábalos was found to have received a series of benefits in exchange for promoting business interests, including a monthly payment of €10,000 for fixed expenses, payment of housing costs, and the hiring of two women linked to him at public companies overseen by the Transport Ministry. Real-estate transactions, such as a rent-to-buy agreement for a property in Madrid between Aldama and Ábalos, were also linked to the scheme.
The verdict is a significant political blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, as Ábalos was a close ally and former organisation secretary of the PSOE. This conviction marks the first major final ruling involving a former senior member of Sánchez's administration amidst other corruption investigations involving figures linked to his party.