Spanish Prosecutor Seeks Dismissal of Influence Peddling Case Against Begoña Gómez
The Spanish prosecutor’s office has once again requested the dismissal of a case against Begoña Gómez, wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, this time concerning allegations of influence peddling and related offenses. The investigation centered on her co-direction of a research chair at the Complutense University of Madrid and alleged preferential treatment for businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés.
The prosecutor argued that Gómez’s marital relationship with Sánchez “cannot operate as a presumption” of guilt, a position echoed by Gómez’s legal defense team who also requested the case be archived. The request was made during a hearing held Monday at the Investigating Court 41 of Madrid, where the prosecutor also sought dismissal of charges against Gómez’s advisor, Cristina Álvarez, and Barrabés.
According to legal sources, the prosecutor has previously moved to dismiss a related case concerning alleged embezzlement. In a written submission accompanying the request, the prosecutor stated there was no evidence of any of the four crimes under investigation – influence peddling, corruption in business dealings, intrusion, and misappropriation – committed by any of the individuals involved.
“Beyond ethical or aesthetic considerations, the convenience or inconvenience of certain actions,” the prosecutor asserted, the mere marital connection to Sánchez is insufficient grounds for investigation, particularly without establishing a demonstrable “economic benefit” which remains undefined.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado has suggested that, should the case proceed to trial, both branches of the investigation be decided by a popular jury. The core of the current investigation focuses on whether Gómez exerted influence to benefit Barrabés’ companies, which have received public contracts, and her role within the university research chair, including corporate sponsorship of software used by the program.
However, the prosecutor emphasized that establishing influence peddling requires demonstrating “how, when, where, and on whom the influence was exerted,” arguing that “mere presence” is not enough. The prosecutor’s filing contends that allegations of influence peddling have been made “in a general way, without specifying or detailing an accusation with concrete facts and evidence or objective indications.”
The Fiscalía maintains there is “no objective element” to suggest Gómez “offered to exercise her influence and effectively deploy her ascendancy over third parties,” nor is there evidence of “bribery, gift, donation, or any type of remuneration or consideration.” The prosecutor also dismissed allegations of intrusion related to the drafting of university-related documents and corruption in business dealings, citing a lack of “probative conjecture.”
Furthermore, the prosecutor found no evidence of misappropriation of software related to the research chair, stating that despite a “thorough investigation,” there is no “supporting evidence” and no indication of “illicit parallel enrichment,” despite an extensive review of Gómez’s financial records and assets.
The prosecutor underscored the absence of “objective elements of criminality” concerning Barrabés and deemed the accusation against Álvarez, Gómez’s advisor, “unjustified.” If Gómez’s influence cannot be demonstrated, the prosecutor argued, “it is even less possible to attribute and construct a crime of influence peddling” to her advisor. “Unless we want to force the penal types, resort to fabulous hypotheses and absent from what has been acted upon, and with presumptions against the investigated,” the prosecutor added, requesting the case be dismissed.
Accusations Request Sánchez Testimony
The popular accusations in the case against Begoña Gómez have again requested Judge Juan Carlos Peinado to summon Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as a witness in the main part of the case. During the three-hour hearing, the accusations, led by the organization Hazte Oír, requested Sánchez testify regarding the software used by the research chair Gómez co-directed at the Complutense University of Madrid, according to legal sources. This is the second time the accusations have requested Sánchez’s testimony, following a similar request on October 27th related to a separate investigation into alleged embezzlement concerning the hiring and development of work by Gómez’s advisor.
