Spanish Judge Juan Carlos Peinado yesterday concluded a nearly two-year investigation into Begoña Gómez , wife of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and formally charged her with four counts: influence peddling, business corruption, embezzlement and misappropriation .
The indictment focuses on analyzing the relationships between Gómez and several companies that provided her with software free of charge: "A disguised form of payment," according to Peinado, because these companies subsequently participated in numerous public tenders.
Now it's up to the parties: the prosecution and defense have five days to present their closing arguments. This step precedes the decision on when to open the trial, with the possibility—although already contested by the Madrid Court—of a jury hearing. Meanwhile, the prime minister called for "justice to be done," and for this reason, he expressed his belief that time will put "everything and everyone in its proper place."
During the investigation, the prosecutor's office repeatedly requested the case be dismissed, while the "popular" accusations—far-right associations and Vox—always opposed the dismissal. In the 38-page order, Peinado uses harsh tones: "The conduct emanating from presidential palaces, as in this case, appears more typical of absolutist regimes, fortunately forgotten in our country," he states . He also claims that Gomez "influenced" academic authorities and officials, taking advantage of "his personal relationship with the Prime Minister" to obtain "institutionally exceptional discussions," including through meetings at the Moncloa Palace.
The core of the accusation revolves around Gomez's academic activity, as co-director of a master's program at the Complutense University of Madrid . Since Sánchez's arrival at the PSOE secretariat and the government in 2018, according to Peinado, several "public decisions" have been made that "favored" Gomez's project for the chair of Competitive Social Transformation, "obtained by singularly exploiting her relational position." According to the investigation, the private fundraising linked to the master's program was "merely the facade of a hidden payment," in exchange for advantages for companies involved in public procurement. For all of this, the 'primera dama' allegedly relied on her assistant at Moncloa, Cristina Alvarez, for whom Peinado has also requested an indictment, along with businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés.
The decision, announced while Sanchez is on an official visit with his wife to China, at the invitation of Beijing authorities, has sparked an "outraged" reaction from the government. The Minister of Presidency and Justice, Felix Bolanos, calls it "irreparable damage" to the "good name of justice" and assures that "a higher, impartial court will overturn the decision." Meanwhile, the PSOE denounces "clockwork justice," part of a strategy of political pressure against the prime minister, through his entourage. It has also been hit by the indictment of his brother, Daniel Sanchez, for alleged "irregularities" in the creation of the senior position at the Badajoz Provincial Council.
(Unioneonline/vl)
