Madrid's investigating judge, Juan Carlo Peinado, has indicted Begona Gomez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and imposed a series of precautionary measures, citing a flight risk. These include the confiscation of her passport, a ban on leaving the country, and the requirement to sign in court every 15 days. This was revealed in an order issued today by the magistrate and cited by Spanish media, including Efe.
Judge Peinado also imposed the same precautionary measures against Begona Gomez's former assistant at the Moncloa Palace, Cristina Alvarez, and businessman Juan Carlos Berrabes, who were also indicted. The decision followed the preliminary hearing, which took place Monday in the presence of the suspects before the investigating judge of the Madrid court, concluding an investigation that lasted over two years. The judge also consulted the other parties in the proceedings: the public prosecutor and the "popular" prosecution, which includes far-right groups, including Vox, represented by the ultra-Catholic association HazteOir. It was the latter who requested the precautionary measures, citing the risk of the suspects fleeing. Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the defense had again requested an acquittal and dismissal of the case due to lack of evidence of a crime.
Peinado accuses Sanchez's wife and the other defendants of four alleged crimes: business corruption, embezzlement, influence peddling, and embezzlement, related to Begona Gomez's management of a university chair at the Complutense University of Madrid, co-directed with businessman Berrabes, and of business software developed within the academic environment. The magistrate, after hearing the parties, had three days to decide whether to commit the case to trial or dismiss it.
The decision came today, after Peinado yesterday opened a new investigation, involving a €4 million contract, financed with EU funds from the Federal Reserve, managed by the Spanish public digital transformation company Red.es, awarded to a temporary union of companies (UTE), which also includes Innova Next, a company owned by entrepreneur Juan Carlos Barrabes. The magistrate then clarified that the "primera dama" is not formally under investigation in this new investigation, which alleges alleged abuse and fraud involving European Union funds.
