Spanish Ex-Minister Gets 24 Years for Corruption

Spain’s Supreme Court on Monday sentenced former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos to 24 years in prison for corruption, marking the first verdict in a series of scandals affecting the ruling Socialist Party.

The court found Ábalos guilty of offences including criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement and influence peddling. The case involved the rigging of public contracts for medical supplies, including face masks, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ábalos’s aide, Koldo García, was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Businessman Víctor de Aldama received a four-and-a-half-year sentence, but the court suspended the prison term in recognition of his cooperation in uncovering the scheme.

The case is one of several corruption scandals linked to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s inner circle. However, the prime minister has not been named in any of the cases and says they are part of a campaign to remove him from office.

(Reuters, bak)