The Public Prosecutor’s Office has appealed the indictment of Begoña Gómez, wife of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, agreed by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado. The investigating judge brought her, her advisor Cristina Álvarez, and businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés to the dock, for the crimes of influence peddling, corruption in private sector business, misappropriation, and embezzlement of public funds.
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The prosecutor asks the Chamber to dismiss the case for the three on the grounds that “the facts do not constitute a criminal offense.” The investigating judge believes there are indications of a crime in Gómez’s co-direction of a professorship at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), in addition to the software developed by private companies and the use of her advisor for her private businesses.
After the indictment order, Peinado gave the parties five days to present their accusations. The popular prosecution led by the ultra-conservative organization Hazte Oír demands 24 years in prison for the Prime Minister’s wife for the four crimes proposed by the judge, as well as a ban on leaving the country and the withdrawal of her passport due to “risk of flight.” It also requests 22 years for her advisor and six for Barrabés.
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The organization considers that there is “an evident and well-founded risk of flight on the part of the three,” and therefore requests that, as precautionary measures, they be prohibited from leaving national territory without prior judicial authorization, have their passports withdrawn, and be obliged to sign every fifteen days at the courthouse.
Hazte Oir reports that after Pedro Sánchez became Prime Minister in 2018, Begoña Gómez, “fully aware of it and voluntarily, made a radical change” in her career, taking advantage of the influence granted to her by being the wife of the head of the Executive.
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Thus, this association states, Gómez managed to direct a professorship at the Complutense University, a job in which she was helped by businessman Barrabés, for whom she, in return, signed letters in favor of his projects so that he would receive aid.
They add that once in that position, Gómez improperly appropriated software from the Complutense University and managed to have Cristina Álvarez appointed as her advisor for private tasks with the connivance of the latter.
For the trial, it is requested that a hundred witnesses appear, including the Prime Minister, and also the current Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, whose testimony “is crucial to clarify the appointment of Cristina Álvarez and the functional scope of the position.”
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