Sánchez Allies Face 2 Court Showdowns Over €53 Million Bailout and Influence-Peddling Case
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 15
Sánchez Allies Face 2 Court Showdowns Over €53 Million Bailout and Influence-Peddling Case
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 15
Summary
Begoña Gómez is due in court Monday after a judge charged her with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds following a two-year investigation.
The case alleges Sánchez’s wife used her position to secure and run a post at Madrid’s Complutense University and used public resources and contacts for private interests; her assistant Cristina Álvarez and businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés were also charged.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is scheduled to testify Wednesday and Thursday before the Audiencia Nacional in a separate probe tied to the €53 million 2021 Plus Ultra airline bailout, including possible influence peddling.
That inquiry widened last week after police found jewelry worth more than €1.3 million in Zapatero’s office safe, prompting scrutiny over possible tax fraud and smuggling; he and Gómez deny wrongdoing.
The twin court appearances deepen pressure on Pedro Sánchez, whose brother and former aides also face separate corruption-related cases, though a Monday poll found 64% of Socialist voters want him to stay until next year’s election.
With his family and party on trial, can Spain's Prime Minister politically survive this 'judicial calvary'?
A former Prime Minister faces trial for the first time. Is Spain's elite class no longer untouchable?
Is this a genuine corruption crackdown, or a coordinated political witch-hunt fueled by the far-right?
Spain’s First Ex-Prime Minister Corruption Probe: Zapatero, the Plus Ultra Bailout, and the Venezuelan Money Laundering Scandal
Overview
Former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is under formal investigation after Spain’s Anti-Corruption Attorney General’s Office received international cooperation requests from France and Switzerland. These authorities are working to dismantle a criminal organization suspected of laundering large sums of money from Venezuela, with funds believed to come from government food programs and gold sales. Investigators suspect the bailout of the airline Plus Ultra was used to move these illicit funds into Europe. Zapatero, at the center of this international probe, has strongly denied any wrongdoing, making this a major political and legal crisis for Spain.