Latest news with #JoséLuisÁbalos
Ya Biladi
a day ago
- Business
- Ya Biladi
Spanish corruption probe targets ex-Minister, ties emerge with Morocco bank account
The Central Operations Unit of the Spanish Civil Guard is continuing its investigation into a financial corruption case involving former Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Organization Secretary and former Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, as well as PSOE MP and senior official Santos Cerdán, according to Spanish media reports. As part of the investigation, the Spanish Supreme Court has issued an order requesting that Morocco's Bank of Africa provide full details related to a bank account suspected of being linked to the network. The broader probe involves 479 bank accounts across 35 financial institutions, including 12 foreign banks. Although the account in question has a Spanish IBAN and was opened at the bank's Madrid branch, investigators are focusing on the Bank of Africa's headquarters in Morocco. The judicial order specifies that «the requested information must be submitted by the bank's central authority without notifying the branch or office where the account was opened, nor the account holder or any third party, to preserve the confidentiality of the investigation». Authorities have asked for the identification of all financial products tied to the account, including safety deposit boxes, whether held by individuals or legal entities. The account was opened in 2011 and closed in March 2021, just months before Ábalos exited the Spanish government. This is not the only mention of Morocco in the case. In an audio recording dated April 9, 2019, Koldo García, a former advisor to Ábalos, can be heard discussing potential kickbacks for awarding public contracts. «There's also the Morocco issue, that's going to come up, and no one's going to say a word», García said. The recording was made just two and a half months after Ábalos visited Morocco in January 2019, representing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. During that trip, he met with Morocco's Prime Minister and five ministers overseeing infrastructure portfolios. Talks focused on Morocco's high-speed rail project, with Ábalos expressing Spain's interest in contributing through its companies. Discussions also touched on highway development and Casablanca's new tram lines, a project eyed by a Spanish company based in the Gipuzkoa region.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Spanish Premier Under Attack From All Sides After Graft Shock
As allegations of corruption against a former aide began to circle three weeks ago, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez couldn't bring himself to believe them, according to people close to him. Santos Cerdán was a powerful figure in Sánchez's Socialist Party. As organizational secretary, he was in charge of the day-to-day running of the party — a role he took on after his predecessor, José Luis Ábalos, another former Sánchez aide, was charged with organized crime, bribery and influence peddling last year.
Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Times
Pedro Sánchez's right-hand man held in jail on corruption charges
The right-hand man of Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, has been provisionally jailed while awaiting trial on corruption charges. Santos Cerdán, the former No 3 of the ruling Socialist Party, was detained as part of a wider investigation that threatens to topple the government. On Monday the supreme court judge Leopoldo Puente ruled that Cerdán, 56, should be held without bail on suspicion of bribery, criminal conspiracy and influence peddling. He denies all the charges. The charges stem from alleged kickbacks on €500 million worth of public works contracts also linked to José Luis Ábalos, 65, Sánchez's previous right-hand man and the former minister of transport. The judge said there was 'overwhelming evidence' of Cerdán's involvement in the network, which prosecutors say could have siphoned off more than €5 million in illicit gains from improperly awarded state contracts. He said pre-trial detention was necessary because Cerdán might destroy or tamper with evidence if left at liberty. The scandal's reach appeared to extend beyond Cerdán. The judge noted that 'more individuals, physical or legal' may have profited from the alleged scheme, naming Ábalos and his former aide Koldo García as possible beneficiaries. All deny wrongdoing. Cerdán characterised the case as politically motivated, claiming he was being targeted for his role in brokering agreements with Basque and Catalan separatist parties that secured Sánchez's re-election. Cerdán was the first of the high-profile suspects under investigation in the supreme court to be remanded in custody. His arrest marked a dramatic escalation in a case that had already cast doubt on the survival of the Socialist-led coalition government. Responding to the ruling, Sánchez said: 'The party has done what it had to do. Now it is time for the justice system to determine responsibility.' The scandal is likely to increase pressure on Sánchez, 53, to step down and call elections. • Pedro Sánchez's row with Trump could offer respite from scandal Miriam González, the wife of the former British deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg, has added to the Socialist leader's woes by publicly criticising him for failing to act after corruption allegations were made against his wife, Begoña Gómez. González, 57, called his lack of action to improve governance standards in the year since the allegations against Gomez surfaced 'a democratic disgrace'. She also said the prime minister's wife was likely to escape scrutiny in a case involving an airline due to weak legislation. In a sharply worded article published last week by El Mundo, González, who is the head of Better Spain, a civic group promoting transparency in public life, berated Sánchez and Alberto Feijóo, the conservative leader of the opposition, for not tackling loopholes in legislation dealing with conflicts of interest. With other senior figures under scrutiny, political observers in Madrid are warning that the fallout may yet widen. The investigation continues.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Spanish PM's former right-hand man detained in corruption investigation
A former senior official in Spain's ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' party (PSOE) has been remanded in custody by a supreme court judge investigating corruption allegations that have put the country's centre-left government under unprecedented pressure. Santos Cerdán, who served as the PSOE's organisational secretary and was the righthand man of the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, quit earlier this month after a judge found 'firm evidence' of his possible involvement in taking kickbacks on public construction contracts. Cerdán's alleged criminal activities, which have become the latest in a slew of corruption allegations against Sánchez's circle, led the prime minister to demand his resignation and to apologise to voters, but he dismissed calls for a snap general election. On Monday, Cerdán appeared at the supreme court to testify over allegations – which he denies – of bribery, influence peddling and criminal association. After giving evidence, he was denied bail and remanded in custody by the judge, Leopoldo Puente. The investigation began after the anti-corruption unit of the Guardia Civil police force handed material to the court that suggested Cerdán had discussed taking kickbacks on public contracts with the former PSOE transport minister José Luis Ábalos and one of the minister's aides, Koldo García. Ábalos and García are also under investigation and have denied wrongdoing. Cerdán, who stepped down from his party role and resigned his parliamentary seat shortly after the news broke, has vowed to clear his name. Sánchez, who became prime minister in 2018 after using a motion of no confidence to turf the corruption-mired conservative People's party (PP) out of government, is already contending with graft investigations relating to his wife and his brother, who both deny any wrongdoing. A former PSOE member was also recently implicated in an alleged smear campaign against the Guardia Civil police unit investigating the corruption allegations. Speaking after the judge's decision, the prime minister said: 'We acted firmly and now it will be up to the judicial authorities to establish Mr Cerdán's responsibility.' But the move led the PP to renew its demands for a fresh election. 'The person who Sánchez personally chose as his number two six months ago is today off to prison, accused of criminal charges including bribery,' said the party's leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. 'If that doesn't call for a resignation and an election, then it means [Sánchez] has totally lost touch with reality.'
BBC News
19-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Spain: Embattled Sánchez resists clamour for resignation
Seven years after taking office by ousting corruption-ridden conservatives from government, Pedro Sánchez is fighting for his political life amid investigations into alleged graft in his Socialist party (PSOE).On June 12, an ashen-faced prime minister apologised to Spaniards after audio gathered by civil guard investigators was made public and appeared to show the PSOE secretary, Santos Cerdán, discussing commissions paid by companies in exchange for public contracts.Sánchez has not himself been directly implicated, but the Socialist leader who came to power promising to clean up politics is now facing calls to resign from an invigorated who was party number three, has resigned from the PSOE and stepped down as a member of parliament. He is due to appear before the Supreme Court on 25 June. He maintains he has never committed a crime nor been implicit in one. The investigation into commissions is part of an ongoing probe which has already implicated José Luis Ábalos, a former PSOE secretary and transport minister. A third person implicated is Koldo García, an advisor to Ábalos. Both men featured with Cerdán in the recently exposed audio. All three say they have done nothing investigation into Ábalos, which began last year, was damaging for the government but his exit from the cabinet and the PSOE secretary post in 2021 put distance between him and Sánchez. However, the implication of Cerdán is more problematic.Sánchez had repeatedly defended him in the face of claims in the right-wing media over recent months that he was under investigation, and the prime minister even accused the opposition of "slandering honest people" when asked about Cerdán's activities last party secretary, from the northern region of Navarre, was a trusted confidant of the prime minister, playing a crucial role, for example, in negotiating the support of Catalan nationalists to allow the formation of a new government in acknowledging that he "should not have trusted" Cerdán, Sánchez has insisted that he will see out the legislature, which is due to end in a letter to PSOE members he apologised again, while doubling down."There are many issues that affect the lives of the majority – healthcare, housing, pensions, jobs, fighting climate change and defending equality – and for which it is worth fighting still," he wrote. "Challenges that are not solved with headlines or lynchings."However, the opposition has presented the investigation as symptomatic of a corrupt regime, pointing to other probes affecting Sánchez and his circle.A judge has been investigating the prime minister's wife, Begoña Gómez, for possible business irregularities - and his musician brother, David, is due to go on trial for alleged influence peddling in taking up a public post in the south-western city of Badajoz. Meanwhile, the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, is also likely to face trial for revealing confidential details of a tax evader. All three deny wrongdoing. Sánchez and his supporters have cast these three affairs as part of a campaign orchestrated by the conservative People's Party (PP), the far-right Vox, right-wing media and factions within the judiciary. A number of judicial experts have expressed surprise at the zeal with which the investigations have been carried a raucous parliamentary session this week, opposition MPs chanted "Dimisión" (Resign) at the prime minister, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the PP, accused him of being "a wolf who has led a corrupt pack".Paco Camas, head of public opinion in Spain for polling firm Ipsos, sees a Sánchez resignation as "political suicide" for his party, because it would almost certainly trigger elections, allowing the PP to form a government, probably with the support of Vox."The overall trend right now is a demobilised electorate on the left, particularly for the Socialist party, and an enormous mobilisation of voters on the right, which is capitalising on the discontent with the government," Camas the Socialist president of the Castilla-La Mancha region, Emiliano García-Page, has warned that "there is no dignified way out" for the as long as Sánchez can keep his fragile parliamentary majority of left-wing and nationalist parties together there is little the opposition can do to bring him that end, the prime minister has been frantically trying to reassure these allies, many of who have voiced outrage at the Cerdán-Ábalos scandal. Camas believes that persuading them to support a 2026 budget could be a way for Sánchez to buy some such plans could be left in tatters were more explosive revelations to emerge, as many in the Socialist party worries will be playing on Sánchez's mind as he heads to the Nato summit in The an assured presence on the international stage, he will arrive with serious doubts about his future and under mounting pressure to raise Spain's defence his government has promised to increase military spending to 2% of economic output this year, it has been resisting calls from the United States and the Nato leadership to raise it further. Sánchez has now refused to accept a target of 5% of GDP for military spending, saying it "would not only be unreasonable but also counterproductive".
