A Madrid court announced this Tuesday that summoned Begoña Gómez to testify on July 5 as being investigatedthe wife of the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, within the investigations against him for alleged corruption.
“The Court of Instruction No. 41 of Madrid has summoned Begoña Gómez to testify as an investigator on Friday, July 5, at 10:00 a.m.”, in relation to the case for the alleged “crimes of corruption in the private sector and influence peddling,” the justice explained in a statement.
The decision came after Last week, the court rejected the request of the Prosecutor’s Office that recommended closing the investigationnot having found “sufficient” elements to continue it.
The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, and his wife Begoña Gómez.
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The case focuses on public contracts awarded to a businessman who had professional relationships with Begoña Gómez. Promptly, The prosecution is investigating a series of public contracts awarded to companies owned by Juan Carlos Barrabés, professor of the master’s degree at the Complutense University that Gómez co-directed.
The businessman is summoned as a witness next Friday, although his statement is pending a medical report for alleging health problems.
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In the investigation of the contracts reported by Clean Hands, the judge asked the Civil Guard, acting as judicial police, to collect the contracting files of various Government agencies and also of the Madrid City Council awarded to Barrabés companies.
The investigations focus on the contracts that Red.es, the Higher Sports Council and the Madrid City Council awarded to the commercial company Innova Next, managed by Barrabés, and which amount to 10 million euros (11 million dollars).
The judge investigates whether these awards could have been influenced by the letters of recommendation signed by Begoña Gómez, wife of the chief executive, who awarded the contracts.
“There is no (…) smokescreen that covers the fact that Sánchez’s wife is being investigated for signing letters of recommendation for the government to award contracts to friendly businessmen,” Cuca Gamarra, general secretary of the conservative Party, wrote on the social network X. Popular, main opposition formation.
Pedro Sanchez and his wife Begoña Gómez.
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At the end of April, Sánchez framed the accusations against his wife in a strategy of “harassment and demolition” against his left-wing government carried out by “media with a marked right-wing and ultra-right orientation”, supported by the conservative opposition.
The government has absolute peace of mind, because we know that there is nothing here
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Finally, he announced that he continued to lead the Executive “with even more strength if possible.” and the commitment to “work tirelessly, with firmness and serenity for the pending regeneration” of Spanish democracy and the advancement and consolidation of rights and freedoms.
This Tuesday’s summons against his wife is a political setback for Sánchez, since the right-wing opposition claims that this investigation reinforces its accusations of corruption against the socialist president and his government.
However, after learning of the summons, The Spanish government affirmed this Tuesday that there is “nothing at all” in the case against the wife of the president of the Government.
The government has “absolute peace of mind, because we know that there is nothing here,” said the executive’s spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, at a press conference, who asserted that the complaint against Begoña Gómez is based on “lies and hoaxes.”
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