Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez\u2019s wife, Bego\u00f1a G\u00f3mez, is set to stand trial on charges of influence peddling and embezzlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Investigating Judge Juan Carlos Peinado on Monday ordered G\u00f3mez and Cristina \u00c1lvarez, her aide at La Moncloa, the prime minister\u2019s office, to face trial after Madrid\u2019s Provincial Court cleared the way in July, Spanish media reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The case centers on accusations that G\u00f3mez used her relationship to advance her career and co-direct a program at Madrid\u2019s Complutense University, while also using public resources and government staff for private interests. G\u00f3mez denies wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proceedings are the latest in a scandal-riddled year for Socialist leader S\u00e1nchez. Former Prime Minister Jos\u00e9 Luis Rodr\u00edguez Zapatero recently faced questions over a \u20ac53-million pandemic bailout, while Socialist heavyweight Santos Cerd\u00e1n was investigated in a public-contract kickback probe involving former minister Jos\u00e9 Luis \u00c1balos. Both men deny wrongdoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
G\u00f3mez\u2019s case will now go to a higher court, which must set a hearing date. Spain\u2019s public prosecutor, which says the evidence does not establish a criminal offense, and the defense teams are seeking acquittals. Hazte O\u00edr, an ultra-Catholic group acting as a private prosecutor, is seeking 13 years in prison for G\u00f3mez.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her lawyer, Jaime Campaner, has argued that Hazte O\u00edr\u2019s indictment contains \u201cserious technical defects\u201d that are incompatible with the law and \u201cirremediable\u201d at this stage. He has called for the case to be closed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez\u2019s wife, Bego\u00f1a G\u00f3mez, is set to stand trial on charges of influence peddling and embezzlement. Investigating Judge Juan Carlos Peinado on Monday ordered G\u00f3mez and Cristina \u00c1lvarez, her aide at La Moncloa, the prime minister\u2019s office, to face trial after Madrid\u2019s Provincial Court cleared the way in July, Spanish media […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36597,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36595\/revisions\/36597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsreporters.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}