The Supreme Court sentences Ábalos to 24 years in prison for "organic, organized, and continuous corruption"
The high court suspends the entry into prison of Víctor de Aldama in exchange for him doing community work and sentences Koldo García to nineteen and a half years
Madrid"An organic, organized, and continuous corruption from the highest instances of political power." By unanimous decision, the seven judges of the Supreme Court have upheld the sentence requested by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and have sentenced José Luis Ábalos to 24 years and three months in prison in the first trial of the mask case. 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 and eight months in prison, and businessman Víctor de Aldama, the scheme's facilitator, to four and a half years, who will not have to go to prison in exchange for community service. "They formed a criminal organization," concludes the sentence, which is now final. However, Koldo García will file an appeal for protection with the Constitutional Court for violation of fundamental rights. To justify the severe sentences, the ruling alleges that these are conducts executed "from the exercise of public and political power at the highest level of constitutional bodies" and, consequently, have a "much greater destabilizing potential".
The sentence also makes a strong statement against corruption: "Its gravity 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 private interests," it laments. And it adds that the "most serious" is that it "damages" "citizen confidence" in the political system and generates a "loss of institutional legitimacy".
Over 224 pages, the Supreme Court argues that all three saw "the opportunity" to obtain a "common economic benefit" and "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 interlocution" with the Ministry of Transport, other ministers, and other public administrations. Ábalos provided 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 award of contracts for himself or for third parties.
10,000 euros per month
The ruling considers it proven that, in order to "cohesion the group", Ábalos, Koldo and Aldama "agreed" on a "monthly remuneration" of 10,000 euros to cover the ex-minister's fixed expenses, a figure to which "other amounts" and other considerations "would be added", such as paying for the ex-minister's ex-partner's flat or the rent of two chalets on the coast. Ábalos and Koldo received it for 34 months, between October 2019 and June 2022. To prove this, the court has relied on Aldama's statement, which has been "corroborated by sufficient and ample" evidence: an Excel sheet found on him, the "numerous calls" and communications between him and Koldo with "expressions indicative of periodic receipt", a note on his partner's mobile phone and what two witnesses explained. In addition to the prison sentence, the Supreme Court fines Ábalos 52,500 euros, Koldo 45,750 euros and Aldama 72,000 euros.
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 imposes three conditions on him: that he does not offend for five years, that he appears every six months before the Supreme Court to report on his professional activity, and 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 "underpinned and contextualized" the evidence: "Only he can offer definitive details for their complete clarification," it argues.
In addition, Aldama will not have to pay a fine of 3.7 million euros, equivalent to the amount that – according to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the popular prosecutions led by the PP – he pocketed for the two mask contracts in April 2020 that were under scrutiny. 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 the midst of the pandemic, "neutralize" the consideration of privileged of his ex-partner, a "genuine appropriate model"
Likewise, the PP also accused them of a crime of prevarication which the Supreme Court dismisses because it has not been proven that it was under "prejudicial conditions" for the administration, nor that the masks "were not of urgent necessity", nor that the price was "excessive". Therefore, it concludes that the awards were not "arbitrary". That said, the three defendants "used" their "ascendancy" and "hierarchical superiority" for the company Soluciones de Gestión to be the awardee. Specifically, two purchases have been investigated: eight million masks from Ports de l'Estat and five million from Adif. The sentence confirms that Ábalos asked for two million euros and Koldo claimed 500,000 euros in return, but qualifies that there is "no corroboration" that the money was handed over, nor the patrimonial report prepared by the Civil Guard, which "serves neither as an indication".
The nepotism of his ex-partner, a "genuine appropriative model"
Among other things, the hiring of Jessica Rodríguez, who was the partner of the then minister, in two public companies was also in question. Ábalos "deployed all his influence" so that she would be hired in order to receive a salary without having to work. The sentence baptizes it as a "genuine model of appropriation of amounts that were destined to pay for non-existent labor consideration". Both he and Koldo García, who was in charge of "creating the conditions" that would allow him to "evade or circumvent" labor controls, will have to compensate the two public companies with 44,000 euros.