Begoña Gómez Case

Begoña Gómez has been the spouse of Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez since 2006.. She worked at Inmark company until 2018, when Pedro Sánchez was appointed president of the government of Spain . From 2018 to 2022 she directed the Africa Center, and since 2020 she is a professor at the Complutense University, despite not having a university education . 
Begoña Gómez sent several letters of recommendation to various businessmen who had met with her at the Moncloa Palace, including Juan José Hidalgo (chairman of Air Europa) and Juan Carlos Barrabés . The company Air Europa received a loan from the government of Spain in 2020 for an amount of 616 million euros. The controversy began in the Spanish media, which reported the facts.
On 16 April 2024, the Manos Limpias trade union filed a complaint in the Madrid Courts, based on the facts published in the Spanish media . This complaint was adjudicated to the 41st court of Madrid, to Judge Peinado .
==Judicial process==
On April 24, 2024, Judge Peinado opened proceedings against Begoña Gómez for influence peddling and corruption in business, following the complaint of Manos Limpias. He requested that the Civil Guard investigate the loan to Air Europa and the awarding of public contracts to Juan Carlos Barrabés. The Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard issued a preliminary report in which it mentioned all the contracts awarded to the companies of Juan Carlos Barrabés in the Ministries of Education, Transport, Labour, Social Security, Industry and Economy, as well as to the public enterprises of the Higher Sports Council, RENFE and ICEX, but found no relationship between these awards and Begoña Gómez . Likewise, it also did not find a relationship between the loan to Air Europa and Begoña Gómez .
The organization "Hazte Oír" and the political party Vox also filed complaints related to these same facts and related to Begoña Gómez's chair at the Complutense University, which were also admitted by the 41st Court of Madrid.
On May 29, 2024, the Provincial Court of Madrid endorsed the continuation of the investigation, except in relation to the loan granted to Air Europa, in which it has found no evidence of a crime .
In view of the possible embezzlement of public funds from the European Union, on June 10, 2024, the European Union Public Prosecutor's Office asked Judge Peinado to take charge of the part of the procedure related to the awarded contracts that have been financed with these European Union funds .
In view of these facts, the Court called Juan Carlos Barrabés and the officials who awarded these contracts to testify as witnesses. Juan Carlos Barrabés testified that he met eight times at the Moncloa Palace with Begoña Gómez, and at least 2 times with President Pedro Sánchez . Juan Carlos Barrabés has been charged with influence peddling and corruption in business, and has been called to testify again on August 1, 2024 .
The Complutense University sent the judge a report in which it found indications that Begoña Gómez could have committed a crime of misappropriation by having appropriated software financed by the University itself, and by having issued contracts and expenses on behalf of the University without being authorized to do so. The report also indicated the lack of cooperation on the part of the investigated .
For this reason, Judge Peinado called Begoña Gómez to testify . On July 19, Begoña Gómez went to Court 41 in Madrid, for which a strong police device was deployed . Begoña Gómez refused to testify on the advice of her lawyer . Outside the courthouses, many demonstrators protested against government corruption.
In the subsequent statement of the vice-rectors of the Complutense University, they declared that they had warned Begoña Gómez that she could not put the software financed by the Complutense University in her name. Likewise, the vice-rector Juan Carlos Doadrio declared that it was the rector Joaquín Goyache who directly ordered him to create the chair of Begoña Gómez . Goyache, initially called to testify as a witness, later acquired the status of being investigated . Vox expanded its complaint to include the crime of professional intrusion for working as a university professor .
Pedro Sánchez filed an appeal wanting to testify in writing, not personally . This appeal was denied by the court and the judge went to the Moncloa Palace to take a statement from the president. Pedro Sánchez refused to testify . This suggests that the president will be charged in the proceedings .
The president then filed a complaint against Judge Peinado for prevarication, using the State Attorney's Office for this purpose. For this reason, the political party Vox and the organization "Hazte Oir" have filed complaints against President Pedro Sánchez and against the Minister of Justice for having used the State Attorney's Office to attack the judge investigating his wife 
Category:1974 births
Category:Spanish people
Category:Teachers