Spain’s Supreme Court has sentenced former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos to 24 years and three months in prison for corruption linked to the award of mask contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
His former adviser, Koldo García, was sentenced to 19 years and eight months. Both men were convicted of criminal organisation, bribery, embezzlement and influence peddling following a unanimous ruling by the court.
The judges found that contracts for the supply of 13 million masks were awarded by State Ports and rail infrastructure company Adif to Soluciones de Gestión, a company linked to businessman Víctor de Aldama.
Prosecutors argued that Aldama received millions of euros in commissions and channelled money and other benefits to Ábalos and García. The court found that Ábalos sought €2 million, while García requested €500,000. It also concluded that Aldama paid them €10,000 a month between October 2019 and June 2022.
Ábalos was additionally convicted over jobs provided to associates in public companies and the payment of housing costs and other benefits by the network.
Aldama received a four-and-a-half-year sentence for criminal organisation and bribery. However, the term was suspended because of his extensive cooperation with investigators, provided that he commits no further offences, submits regular activity reports and completes community service.
The Supreme Court said his evidence had been crucial to uncovering the full extent of the scheme.
In its ruling, the court warned that corruption at the highest levels of government causes profound damage to public confidence in democratic institutions.
