Spanish Judge Orders Begoña Gómez to Face Corruption Trial, Seizing Passport as Sánchez Pressure Mounts
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Jun 20
Spanish Judge Orders Begoña Gómez to Face Corruption Trial, Seizing Passport as Sánchez Pressure Mounts
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Jun 20
Summary
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado sent Begoña Gómez to trial over corruption allegations and imposed precautionary measures requiring her to surrender her passport and report to court twice a month.
The case centers on claims that Gómez misused public funds and leveraged her relationship with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to advance her interests at Madrid’s Complutense University; she denies wrongdoing.
Peinado barred her from leaving Spain until proceedings end and, despite her movements already being known to police for security reasons, argued that could increase her flight risk. No trial date has been set.
Sánchez’s office called the ruling politically motivated judicial overreach, but the decision deepens pressure on the prime minister as opposition parties demand an early election.
The trial order lands amid wider corruption probes touching Sánchez’s brother, former aides Santos Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos, and ex-prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.