A major blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Supreme Court has sentenced former socialist minister and close Sánchez ally José Luis Ábalos to 24 years in prison in a corruption case linked to COVID-19 mask contracts, writes Euronews.

“Spain’s Supreme Court has sentenced former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, once a senior figure in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE), to 24 years in prison for his role in a corruption scheme linked to the award of face mask contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court also sentenced his former aide Koldo García to 19 years in prison and businessman Víctor de Aldama to four and a half years.

The ruling, unanimously adopted by a seven-judge panel, found that the three men formed a criminal organisation with clearly defined roles aimed at obtaining financial benefits through corrupt practices. Ábalos and García were convicted of offences including participation in a criminal organisation, bribery, embezzlement of public funds and influence peddling.

According to the judgment, the scheme played a role in the awarding of contracts for the supply of 13 million face masks to Spain’s state-owned entities Puertos del Estado and railway infrastructure operator Adif through a company linked to Aldama during the most critical stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court found that Ábalos received a series of benefits in exchange for promoting business interests. These included a monthly payment of €10,000 for what were described as his “fixed expenses”, the payment of housing costs for a person in his inner circle and the hiring of two women linked to the former minister at public companies overseen by the Transport Ministry.

Judges also considered proven several real-estate transactions connected to the scheme. These included a rent-to-buy agreement between Aldama and Ábalos for a property in Madrid, as well as similar arrangements involving homes in Marbella and La Línea de la Concepción. The court linked those operations to efforts undertaken on behalf of business interests, including actions related to the publication of a statement concerning the government-backed rescue of airline Air Europa and the granting of a hydrocarbons licence”.