A judge has ordered Begona Gomez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, to stand trial for alleged embezzlement. Photo / Getty Images
A judge has ordered Begona Gomez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, to stand trial for alleged embezzlement. Photo / Getty Images
A judge investigating Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s wife Begona Gomez for alleged embezzlement has ordered her to stand trial, a court document showed today.
The long-running probe is one of several into Sanchez’s family and former close allies that have embarrassed the Socialist leader and heaped pressure on hisminority coalition.
The investigation centres on whether an official employed in the Prime Minister’s office, Cristina Alvarez, also did work for Gomez while the latter held a position at Madrid’s Complutense University.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado said in a ruling dated yesterday that his preliminary investigation showed that a jury trial was warranted and summoned Gomez to appear in court on Sunday NZT.
He cited emails sent by Alvarez to third parties that “clearly seem to exceed her duties” in the prime minister’s office and constituted “sufficient evidence”.
Gomez’s “personal friendship” with Alvarez was “the reason for her appointment to the position of highest trust” in Sanchez’s office, Peinado wrote in his ruling.
The appointment “could represent a diversion of public resources in favour of private interests”, since Alvarez was working for Gomez at the same time, Peinado said.
Begona Gomez's adviser, Cristina Alvarez, testified at the courts of Plaza de Castilla. Photo / Getty Images
Gomez can appeal and the ruling is not yet definitive.
She denied wrongdoing during a court appearance before Peinado in Madrid two weeks ago.
Peinado set off the saga in April 2024 by opening an investigation to determine whether Gomez exploited her position as Sanchez’s wife for private benefit after complaints by groups with far-right ties.
Separate corruption probes have ensnared two former Socialist heavyweights, Santos Cerdan and ex-Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos, as well as the Prime Minister’s younger brother David Sanchez.
The Prime Minister has dismissed the allegations against his wife and brother as an attempt to undermine his Government by the right, which has demanded his resignation.
“The truth will ultimately prevail. And the truth is that my brother and my wife are innocent,” he said today at a news conference in New York where he attended the United Nations General Assembly.
Earlier this month he said there were “judges who do politics and politicians who try to do justice” and denounced spurious complaints by groups with far-right links.
The legal troubles compound woes for the minority Government which engages in laborious negotiations with an array of fringe and regional separatist parties to try to pass legislation.
