MADRID – Begoña Gómez, wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, will be tried before a jury of nine citizens on charges of public embezzlement linked to the hiring of a personal adviser who is also under investigation.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado ordered Gómez to appear in court on Saturday to “substantiate the charges,” though she declined to attend and sent her lawyer instead, according to El País.
Madrid’s High Court is also probing Gómez for four other alleged offences: influence peddling, business corruption, trademark misappropriation and intrusion during her tenure as co-director of two master’s programmes and a special chair at Madrid’s Complutense University.
Her lawyer, Antonio Camacho – a former Socialist interior minister – has appealed Peinado’s ruling, denouncing “lack of evidence” and what he called an “exorbitant” interpretation of Spain’s criminal code.
Sánchez has publicly defended both his wife and his brother, who faces a separate trial for malfeasance and influence peddling.
Socialist ministers have also rallied around the prime minister, with Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska branding the probe a “prospective investigation” lacking evidence, and Transport Minister Óscar Puente accusing the judge of political bias earlier this month.
Peinado has since filed a libel suit against both ministers, while the opposition conservative Popular Party accused the Socialists of “persecuting” the judge and undermining judicial independence.
The case adds to Sánchez’s mounting political headaches. His Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) has been shaken by a string of corruption scandals, including the upcoming trial of Spain’s attorney general, accused of leaking information about the partner of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Madrid’s influential Popular Party leader.
(cs)
