Wife of Spain's PM Charged With Embezzlement and Influence Peddling After Two-Year Probe

A Madrid judge has formally charged Begoña Gómez, wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, with four crimes -- influence peddling, business corruption, embezzlement of public funds, and misappropriation -- after closing a two-year investigation into her activities at a university chair she co-directed.

Judge Juan Carlos Peinado of Madrid's Juzgado de Instrucción nº 41 issued a 39-page ruling on April 11, concluding there was sufficient evidence to send Gómez to trial. The ruling was made public on April 13, while Gómez and Sánchez were on an official visit to China.

The Ruling

The investigation centers on the Competitive Social Transformation Chair (Cátedra de Transformación Social Competitiva) at Madrid's Complutense University, which Gómez co-directed. Private companies -- including Indra, Telefónica, Google, and Reale Seguros -- contributed over €300,000 for software development under the chair. The university has quantified its damages at approximately €108,766.

Gómez registered the chair's trademark with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) in March 2020, eight months before the chair was officially presented. She later registered an associated company, Transforma TSC SL, in November 2023 as sole administrator. The judge found she also registered software produced under the university chair in her own name.

Peinado characterized the conduct as behavior from presidential palaces that seemed "more proper of absolutist regimes, fortunately already forgotten in our State" -- invoking King Ferdinand VII, the 19th-century Spanish monarch who twice abolished the country's constitution. The ruling notes that since Sánchez became President in July 2018, "certain public decisions" were made favorable to his wife's professorship and projects.

Two others face charges alongside Gómez. Adviser María Cristina Álvarez, who drew €361,423 in gross salary from the Moncloa presidential complex since 2018 while attending only 3 of 21 meetings related to the chair project, faces the same four charges. Businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés faces charges of influence peddling and business corruption.

A fifth charge -- professional intrusion, related to Gómez's signature on a technical document for a software bid -- was dismissed for insufficient evidence.

Notably, both Gómez's defense team and Spain's public prosecutor had jointly requested the case be dismissed, arguing the evidence did not substantiate criminal charges. The judge rejected their request.

What's Next

The judge has given all parties five days to file their positions on opening oral proceedings and submit provisional conclusion briefs specifying the prison sentences sought. The Audiencia Provincial de Madrid (Madrid Provincial Court) will make the final determination on whether the case goes to trial.

Spain's Justice Minister Félix Bolaños said the ruling "has shamed many citizens of our country, and many judges and magistrates," calling the damage to justice "irreparable." The governing PSOE party said the case "lacks all basis" and reflects "a strategy of the right and far-right."

The government expressed confidence the Madrid Provincial Court would overturn the indictment.

Background

The investigation opened in April 2024 after complaints alleging Gómez used her proximity to presidential power for private gain. Over two years, the case expanded from initial influence peddling allegations to include embezzlement and misappropriation charges. The Audiencia Provincial de Madrid confirmed the investigation's validity in October 2024, rejecting complaints filed by Sánchez and Gómez against the judge.

The case is one of several corruption investigations surrounding Sánchez's political circle, adding pressure to his minority coalition government. Gómez and Sánchez have consistently denied any wrongdoing.