Hello and welcome to the details of Who's who in graft trial rocking Spanish government and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Koldo Garcia, former adviser of Spanish transport minister Jose Luis Abalos, attends an investigation commission over a graft case linked to the purchase of face masks during the pandemic, at the Senate in Madrid on April 22, 2024. The corruption trial against former Spanish minister Jose Luis Abalos, along with his then adviser Jose Luis Abalos and the businessman Victor de Aldama, starts on April 7, 2025 in Madrid, a new test for the socialist Prime Minister. — AFP pic
MADRID, April 5 — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s former right-hand man goes on trial on Tuesday in a high-profile corruption case that has tainted his Socialist party and rocked the minority government.
AFP presents the key figures in a case that revolves around ex-Socialist heavyweight Jose Luis Abalos and his alleged receipt of kickbacks for health equipment contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jose Luis Abalos
A transport minister from 2018 until his sacking in 2021, Abalos was more than just a cabinet member—rather an architect of Sanchez’s rise to power and a close confidant.
He stood by Sanchez during 2017 Socialist primaries that, against expectations, returned the Sanchez to the party leadership.
Sanchez led the formation in an unsuccessful stint from 2014 to 2016 in which a general election defeat to the main conservative Popular Party (PP) kept it in opposition.
Abalos was named transport minister in 2018 after Sanchez took office following a confidence motion that ousted the graft-plagued PP.
As the powerful Socialist organisation secretary, Abalos was one of the ruling party’s most recognisable faces and most influential members.
That all changed after his embroilment in a police investigation into the alleged corruption in 2024. The Socialists suspended him before his definitive expulsion last year.
Abalos gave up his independent seat in parliament in January this year while languishing in pre-trial detention. He denies the charges against him, which could see him jailed for 24 years.
Koldo Garcia
The significant role Abalos’s former adviser is accused of playing has given his name to the so-called “Koldo affair”.
A once obscure figure, the tall, burly Garcia used to wield axes in traditional Basque wood-cutting exhibitions before becoming Abalos’s closest associate at the transport ministry.
The ex-security guard had served as a Socialist local councillor in the northern Navarre region before working for Abalos.
Like Abalos, Garcia developed close ties to Sanchez and accompanied him during the 2017 Socialist primaries. As they criss-crossed Spain by car, their political enemies dubbed them “the Peugeot gang”.
The other passenger was Santos Cerdan, Abalos’s successor as Socialist organisation secretary—and he too is now under investigation for alleged corruption.
Garcia, who faces up to 19 years in prison if convicted, denies being the key intermediary in the illegal payment of commissions and rigging of contracts alongside Abalos.
Victor de Aldama
Businessman Victor de Aldama has admitted shady dealings with Abalos and Garcia to capture contracts and gain commercial advantages via the payment of kickbacks.
Prosecutors are seeking seven years in prison for Aldama, a former president of third-division football club Zamora.
In 2024, he told the press that the network of corruption permeated the Socialists up to Sanchez himself. — AFP
These were the details of the news Who's who in graft trial rocking Spanish government for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
