In what is being described as a potentially decisive in Spain’s biggest corruption trial, businessman Víctor de Aldama delivered explosive testimony before the Supreme Court.
He directly implicated Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in his knowledge of the alleged Koldo Garcia/Ábalos corruption scandal and illegal party financing.
Testifying yesterday as the first of the three main accused, Aldama told judges he personally delivered cash bribes to former transport minister José Luis Ábalos and his adviser Koldo García.
Sometimes, he said, carrying up to €250,000 in a backpack to the ministry and that part of the money was used for illegal cash “donations” to the Sánchez’s party Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE).
The most damaging claim came when Aldama described meeting Sánchez at a PSOE rally in February 2019, introduced by Koldo García.
According to Aldama, the then-opposition leader thanked him personally, saying: “Thank you very much for everything, I know what you are doing and I just wanted to thank you.”
He also claimed that García told him about Sánchez, allegedly having said: “He owes me a lot and he knows why.”
Aldama repeatedly portrayed Garcia not as Ábalos’s man but as Sánchez’s, claiming the Prime Minister granted his former right-hand man cross-cutting power across government ministries and PSOE-run regions, enabling the rapid awarding of lucrative contracts in exchange for kickbacks.
He also admitted organising prostitutes for Ábalos in Mexico on Garcia’s instructions, paying for them himself and acting as a middleman so construction firms that won tenders could funnel cash to the PSOE without exposing party officials.
“I realise we were doing something illegal,” he told the court.
Aldama went further, describing what he called the “internal hierarchy” of the alleged criminal organisation.
“If there is a hierarchy and I am obviously in the criminal band, President of the Government Pedro Sánchez is at escalafón uno [level one]; Mr Ábalos is level two, because he was the one who gave and granted the contracts; Mr Koldo García is level three and I am level four,” he told the court.
According to his testimony, Garcia acted with “transversal power” granted directly by Sánchez, allowing him to operate across multiple ministries and PSOE regional governments. Aldama, meanwhile, positioned himself as the intermediary who executed and financed the scheme.
Aldama, widely regarded by investigators as the alleged corrupting nexus in the scheme, is co-operating with prosecutors and has already secured a reduction in his potential sentence.
His testimony yesterday follows weeks of evidence from Guardia Civil officers that painted Ábalos and Garcia as the central figures in an alleged sophisticated kickback network built around pandemic mask contracts.
The case centres on irregular awards worth tens of millions of euros in emergency contracts during the early months of Covid-19, with Aldama accused of funnelling bribes in return for political favours.
According to him, the mask deals were simply the most visible and profitable entry point during the pandemic emergency.
The same group allegedly used their connections for kickbacks from regular public works and construction contracts, favourable treatment in public tenders and influence over other major decisions
Aldama further claimed the network extended to party financing through cash “donations” to the PSOE, as well as placements and authorisations in public companies.
He also addressed the sensitive role of Jéssica Rodríguez, Ábalos’s former partner with a wealthy past.
According to his testimony, García told him the relationship could not be ended because “Jéssica had Mr Ábalos by the balls”.
Aldama claimed Rodríguez possessed a compromising video, which allegedly gave her significant leverage.
He described how the network allegedly ended up paying the rent for her luxury apartment in Madrid’s Plaza de España as a way of keeping her satisfied and maintaining influence over the former minister.
In his account, García operated with “transversal power” across multiple ministries and PSOE-run regions, allowing the group to extract benefits far beyond the initial health emergency contracts.
This broader scope is why the case is considered so damaging: It points to systemic influence trafficking at the heart of the government and party, not just one-off pandemic profiteering.
Sánchez and the PSOE have repeatedly insisted the PM had no knowledge of any irregularities and that the accused acted on their own.
The PSOE has asked the Supreme Court for protection in the face of the “lies” from Aldama’s statements.
Aldama has chosen to “make unfounded accusations and stir up a fuss where no crimes have been committed” as a “well-known defence strategy”, it claimed.
“We are not going to allow ourselves to be defamed with impunity. There is no illegal financing in the PSOE. There are only Aldama’s lies,” a party spokesperson said.
Government sources have so far declined to comment on yesterday’s specific claims, which remain allegations made in open court and will be tested under cross-examination.
The UCO is also investigating a separate but related line concerning a property in Peru linked to Ábalos. The UCO is a specialised division of the Civil Guard of Spain responsible for the investigation and prosecution of the most serious forms of crime.
According to investigators, the former minister allegedly used his position to attempt to sell an asset valued at around €1.2 million that was originally financed with public co-operation funds channelled through his foundation Fiadelso.
The Guardia Civil considers the operation relevant to its analysis of possible illicit enrichment abroad, with indications that the property was built using public money and later repurposed for private benefit. They see Ábalos as the central figure in the alleged corruption.
