The Legal Cases Rankling Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is grappling with a series of legal probes involving his inner circle, including his wife, brother and former transport minister, that have tainted his leftist government.

While the 52-year-old and his Socialist party have dismissed the cases as baseless and part of a right-wing “smear campaign”, the judicial onslaught has given his opponents fresh ammunition to attack him.

Here is a look at the legal cases facing one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders:

Wife 

Sanchez’s wife, Begona Gomez, has been under investigation since April for alleged corruption and influence peddling related to her time working at Madrid’s Complutense University following complaints from two groups with far-right ties — “Manos Limpias” (Clean Hands) and “Hazte Oir” (Make Your Voice Heard).

She is also suspected of illegally appropriating software financed by private companies and initially intended for the university.

The 49-year-old was questioned by a judge in July and is scheduled to testify again on Wednesday at a Madrid court looking into the affair.

During an appearance before the conservative-controlled Madrid regional parliament in November, Gomez dismissed the corruption allegations as politically motivated.

Ex-minister 

Sanchez’s former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos, who used to be a member of his inner circle, is under investigation for allegedly having taken kickbacks for contracts to buy masks and other medical supplies in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to a court document consulted by AFP, Abalos may have received “financial compensation” for his services in the form of a house in the southern city of Cadiz offered by the company that received the contracts.

The same company also allegedly paid the rent for a Madrid flat occupied by a woman “linked” to the former minister.

Abalos denies any wrongdoing. Sanchez removed him from office in July 2021 and he was expelled from the Socialist Party in February when the affair broke. He still sits as an independent member of parliament.

Brother

The prime minister’s younger brother, David Sanchez, has been under investigation since November for alleged embezzlement, influence peddling and tax fraud following a complaint from “Manos Limpias”.

The group accuses David, who is in charge of live entertainment in the southwestern province of Badajoz, of collecting a public salary without going to his place of work as required.

It also questions the conditions under which he was hired for the post in 2017 by the province’s Socialist administration.

He has been summoned to appear in court for questioning over the affair on January 9.

Judicial leaks 

The prime minister’s entourage is also accused of leaking information to the media about a tax fraud case involving the partner of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, head of the Madrid region and a leading figure of Spain’s opposition conservative Popular Party.

Alberto Gonzalez Amador, a businessman, reportedly proposed a guilty plea deal to the public prosecutor’s office by email in an attempt to avoid a trial and a possible jail term. This email was leaked to the press.

Amador accused state prosecutors of violating his right to privacy with the leak and in October the Supreme Court opened a probe into Spain’s top prosecutor, who was appointed by Sanchez’s government and is accused of being behind the leak.

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