The Supreme Court sentences Ábalos to 24 years in prison for "organic, organized, and continuous corruption"
The high court suspends Víctor de Aldama's entry into prison, sentenced to four and a half years, in exchange for him doing community work for twelve months
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 mask case trial. The former strongman of Pedro Sánchez for three years in the PSOE and Moncloa, who has been in Soto del Real for seven months, has been 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 scheme's facilitator, to four and a half years, who will not have to go to prison in exchange for performing community service. "They integrated a criminal organization," concludes the ruling, 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 high penalties, 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 rule of law state," 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 for permanence over time" and a "cohesion" that was manifested with the "facilitation" to Aldama of "privileged communication" 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 Koldo García through the "continued payment" of sums of money to secure the awarding of contracts for himself or for third parties. In addition to the prison sentence, the Supreme Court fines Ábalos 52,500 euros and Koldo 45,750 euros. Both will have to pay compensation of 44,000 euros and, together with Aldama, a global forfeiture of 430,000 euros.
The sentence 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 private interests," it laments. "Its most serious effect is the deterioration of citizen confidence in the political system. A society that perceives that those who hold positions of power act guided by private interests experiences a loss of institutional legitimacy that compromises the stability of the system itself," it adds.
Aldama will not have to go to prison
Almost two months after the trial ended, the lawyers of the three defendants went to the high court at noon to receive the sentence. Aldama arrived half an hour earlier and Ábalos and Koldo followed the reading by video call from prison. Upon leaving, Aldama boasted that "collaborating with Justice has benefits" and asked that "those who come after" do the same as him. And his spokesperson, Ramon Bermejo, called to follow the same path: "There is a before and an after with collaboration. There are several characters who hold the key to certain cases [...] and they will be the first to reflect," he said, alluding to Julio Martínez Martínez, a friend of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and also investigated in the National Court in the Plus Ultra case.
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 that "symbolically" "repairs 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 "underpinned and contextualized" the evidence: "Only he can offer definitive details for its complete clarification," it alleges.
10,000 euros per month for three years
The ruling considers it proven that, with the aim of "cohesing 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, a note on his partner's mobile phone, and what two witnesses explained.
Two mask contracts
The origin of the investigation was two face mask contracts from April 2020, a few weeks after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic: eight million units for Ports de l'Estat and five million for Adif. It alleges that there is an "extensive body of evidence" that proves that, following the "prior agreement" they had, the three defendants "used" their "influence" and "hierarchical superiority" for the company Soluciones de Gestión to be the contractor. Aldama benefited by 6.6 million euros in commissions, Ábalos received two million euros, and Koldo earned 500,000 euros. On the other hand, the ruling dismisses the crime of insider trading requested by the Prosecutor's Office and the crime of prevarication requested by the popular prosecutions, led by the PP.
Two women from Ábalos's circle
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" so that she would be hired for the purpose of receiving a salary without having to work. Koldo García was in charge of "creating the conditions" that would allow her not to go to work and "evade or circumvent" labor controls. For her part, Claudia Montes also took advantage of the "permanent thread" of the relationship she had with Ábalos.
Other suspicious events
There are other facts that were examined at the trial and that the sentence resolves. Firstly, Ábalos facilitated the issuance of a press release anticipating the rescue of Air Europa in August 2020 in order to reassure the airline's creditors and, in return, he enjoyed a villa in Marbella for free. Secondly, it states that the action taken by Koldo García and Aldama for Villafuel to obtain a hydrocarbons license is "inadmissible", but it is not a crime because it was done at the Ministry of Industry, which was not competent, and it is not recorded that they made other moves. However, it does consider that the rental of a villa on the coast of Cadiz was the consideration for which Ábalos benefited from these actions.
Finally, the Supreme Court exonerates the defendants of two facts for which only the PP accused them. On the one hand, from the issuance of mobility certificates during the pandemic because there are doubts as to whether the meetings that justified them took place or not. On the other hand, from the postponement of a tax debt of an Aldama company because the head of cabinet of María Jesús Montero did not have the capacity to do so and it has not been proven that the businessman bribed him with 25,000 euros.
