Spain's Supreme Court will host the first Koldo case trial over the masks plot starting Tuesday. Former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and his ex-advisor Koldo García, held in Soto del Real prison, face up to 30 years in jail. Businessman Víctor de Aldama faces a reduced sentence for cooperating with prosecutors.
The trial, the first part of the Koldo case that broke with Koldo García's arrest on February 21, 2024, focuses on mask contracts awarded by the Transport Ministry during the pandemic. Anticorruption prosecutors charge Ábalos, García, and Aldama with seven crimes for favoring Soluciones de Gestión in purchases for Puertos del Estado (8 million masks) and ADIF (5 million).
The Supreme Court's Criminal Chamber has scheduled 13 sessions from April 7 to 28, with 81 witnesses including Isabel Pardo de Vera, former Adif president, and Javier Hidalgo of Globalia. Ábalos and García deny the charges, which include monthly cash payments of 10,000 euros to García from October 2019 and property rentals as kickbacks.
Aldama, seen as the corrupt link, is cooperating under a deal and free, facing seven years. The case stemmed from a 2022 PP complaint and has other branches at the National Court on public works and PSOE payments. Ábalos lost his immunity in January after relinquishing his parliamentary seat.
