José Luis Abalos, the former Spanish Minister of Transport and a key figure in Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s rise to power, has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for corruption offenses, according to the Supreme Court of Madrid. The court also sentenced Koldo Garcia, Abalos’s former advisor, to 19 years for crimes related to organized crime, corruption, embezzlement of public funds, and influence peddling.
Both men are currently in provisional detention.
Abalos, Garcia, and businessman Victor de Aldama faced charges stemming from alleged corruption involving the purchase of millions of masks during the pandemic, among other irregularities. The unanimous verdict found that the three defendants formed an organized criminal group with designated roles, committing serious corruption offenses.
In exchange for awarding contracts, Abalos reportedly received monthly payments, family vacations, favors for his mistresses, and even payments for prostitutes.
Victor de Aldama received a suspended sentence of four and a half years in exchange for cooperating with the investigation.
Abalos was a prominent figure in the rise of Sanchez and was the most powerful member of the PSOE when he held the position of secretary of the party prior to the scandal. During his court hearing, de Aldama claimed that Prime Minister Sanchez was the leader of the alleged ‘organized gang’ and that the Socialist Party (PSOE), led by Sanchez since 2017, benefited from illegal financing through these commissions.
Under scrutiny from the opposition, Sanchez has consistently denied any connection between the three defendants and the funds spent by his party, asserting that he had no knowledge of their fraudulent activities.
