A Spanish court announced today that it has opened a preliminary investigation into the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for “exercise of influence” and “corruption”, following a lawsuit filed by an anti-corruption group believed to be close to the far-right.
The investigation “against Begonia Gomet” for alleged “exercise of influence and corruption” was launched on April 16 following a lawsuit by the “Manos limpias” (Clean Hands) association, the Madrid court said in a brief statement.
According to the online news website El Confidencial which disclosed the information, this preliminary investigation concerns Begonia Gomet’s relations with private companies that had received state aid during the Covid-19 crisis or signed contracts with the state, while her husband was the head of the government.
Investigators are particularly interested in her ties to the Spanish travel group Globalia, which owns Air Europa, at a time when the latter was in talks with the government to secure aid following a major drop in air traffic caused by the health crisis.
During that time, Begonia Gomet directed the IE Africa Center, an institution linked to the business school of Madrid’s IE University, a position she left in 2022.
According to El Confidencial, the IE Africa Center had “signed a sponsorship deal with Globalia in 2020” and Begonia Gomet had participated in a “private meeting with its CEO Javier Intaglio at a time when Globalia was negotiating its multi-million dollar rescue plan million euros with the government”.
This plan allowed the granting of €475 million to Air Europa in November 2020.
Asked today in Parliament about this case, Pedro Sanchez said he has confidence in justice. “A day like today, after the news I heard, however, I still believe in the justice of my country,” the Socialist leader said.
After the first press revelations about this case, the Spanish right multiplied the criticisms against the prime minister.
The announcement of the launch of the investigation is “important enough for the head of the government to give explanations to the Spanish”, Esther Munioth, a member of the leadership of the right-wing People’s Party (PP), told reporters today.
“”Manos limpias”, founded in 1995, has brought many lawsuits in recent years and was a civil plaintiff in several corruption trials.
It is considered to be close to the extreme right, mainly because of its secretary-general Miguel Bernard, a former official of the Frente Naconal party that disbanded in 1993.
SOURCE: AMPE
