The Supreme Court sentences Ábalos to 24 years in prison for "organic, organized, and continuous corruption"

Madrid"An organic, organized, and continuous corruption from the highest instances of political power". Unanimously, the seven judges of the Supreme Court have adopted the penalty request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and have sentenced José Luis Ábalos to 24 years in prison in the first masks case trial. The former strongman of Pedro Sánchez for three years in the PSOE and in Moncloa, and who has been in Soto del Real for seven months, has ended up convicted of belonging to a criminal organization, bribery, influence peddling, and embezzlement. Likewise, the court has sentenced Koldo García, who was his most trusted advisor, to nineteen years in prison, and businessman Víctor de Aldama, the fixer of the scheme, to four and a half years, who will not have to go to prison in exchange for community work. "They integrated a criminal organization," concludes the sentence, which is now final. Of course, Koldo García will file an appeal for protection with the Constitutional Court for violation of fundamental rights. To justify the high sentences, it alleges that these are conduct executed "from the exercise of public and political power at the highest level of constitutional bodies" and, consequently, have a "much greater destabilizing potential". "These are acts that undermine the democratic architecture of our social and democratic state of law," laments the high court.

Over 224 pages, the Supreme Court argues that all three "agreed to the future commission of crimes" with an organization that had a "vocation of permanence over time" and a "cohesion" that was made manifest by the "facilitation" to Aldama of a "privileged dialogue" with the Ministry of Transport, other ministers, and other public administrations. Ábalos contributed his "authority" as minister and his "direct influence" when necessary, while Aldama ensured "influence" over him and over Koldo García through the "continued payment" of sums of money to achieve the awarding of contracts for himself or for third parties. In addition to the prison sentence, the Supreme Court fines Ábalos 52,500 euros, Koldo 45,750 euros, and Aldama 72,000 euros. Both will have to compensate the two public companies that hired the ex-partner of the former minister with 44,000 euros and, together with Aldama, will have to pay a global forfeiture of 430,000 euros for the crimes of bribery – the 10,000 euros they paid him for 34 months, the rent for Jessica Rodríguez's apartment, and the rent for a villa in Marbella–.

The ruling also makes a strong indictment against corruption: "Its seriousness lies in the fact that it erodes the foundations of the democratic state, distorts the purpose of public power and turns it into an instrument at the service of particular interests," it laments. "Its most serious effect is the deterioration of citizen confidence in the political system. A society that perceives that those in positions of power act guided by private interests experiences a loss of institutional legitimacy that compromises the stability of the system itself," it adds.

The ruling considers it proven that, in order to "cohesiona the group", all three "agreed" on a "monthly remuneration" of 10,000 euros to cover the ex-minister's fixed expenses, a figure to which "other amounts would be added." Ábalos and Koldo received it between October 2019 and June 2022. To prove this, the court has relied on Aldama's statement, added to an Excel sheet found on him, the "numerous calls" and communications between him and Koldo with "expressions indicative of its periodic receipt", a note that was on his partner's mobile phone and what two witnesses explained.

Aldama avoids prison and the fine of 3.7 million

The Supreme Court has rewarded Aldama's "especially decisive" collaboration and "active contribution of special relevance" by suspending his entry into prison, given that none of the sentences exceed two years in duration. And it sets him three conditions: the first is that he does not commit any crimes for five years; the second is that he appears every six months before the Supreme Court to report on his professional activity, and the third is that he performs community service for one year to "symbolically" "repair the harm caused to Spanish society." The sentence argues that "only" his statement "has made possible" the investigation and conviction by providing "relevant data and information" that have contributed to the "discovery" of the crimes and have "supported and contextualized" the evidence: "Only he can offer definitive details for their complete clarification," it alleges.

Furthermore, Aldama will not have to pay a fine of 3.7 million euros, equivalent to the amount that – according to the popular accusations led by the PP – he pocketed from the two mask contracts in April 2020 that were under scrutiny. Adding sales to a sub-directorate of the Ministry of the Interior and to the health services of the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, the figure rises to 6.7 million euros. Why will neither he, nor Ábalos, nor Koldo have to pay a fine of 3.7 million euros? Both the PP and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office pointed to the crimes of using or profiting from privileged information, but the sentence excludes them because the "peculiar circumstances" of that moment, in full pandemic, "neutralize" the consideration of privileged. "Given the notorious need for masks, their urgency was obvious and the bidding would be imminent," it justifies. And it points out that it was Aldama himself who specified the number of units that would be involved. Therefore, the information had "very little" relevance.

of his ex-partner, a "genuine appropriate model"Specifically, two purchases have been investigated: eight million masks by Ports de l'Estat and five million by Adif. Due to the "anticipated agreement" they had, the three defendants "used" their "influence" and "hierarchical superiority" for the company Soluciones de Gestión to be the awardee. The sentence considers it proven that Ábalos asked for two million euros and Koldo claimed 500,000 euros for the purchase of masks, but qualifies that there is "no corroboration" that the money was delivered, nor the patrimonial report prepared by the Civil Guard, which does not serve even as an indication.

Thenepotism of his ex-partner, a "genuine appropriative model"

The hiring of two women close to Ábalos in public companies was also in question. The first was Jessica Rodríguez, who was the partner of the then minister, who "deployed all her influence" for her to be hired so that she would receive a salary without having to work. The sentence calls it a "genuine model of appropriation of the amounts that were destined to pay for non-existent work performance". Koldo García had an "essential executive contribution", given that he was in charge of "creating the conditions" that would allow her not to go to work and to "evade or circumvent" labor controls. For her part, Claudia Montes also took advantage of the "permanent thread" of the relationship she had with Ábalos.