A top official in Spain’s ruling Socialist Party resigned on Thursday after being implicated in a widening corruption probe that has already ensnared the prime minister’s former close aide.
The investigation centres on public procurement of medical equipment during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I have decided to resign from all my positions,” lawmaker Santos Cerdán, the party’s organisation secretary and its third-ranking figure, said in a statement, adding that he “never committed any illegal act”.
He is suspected of being an accomplice in the alleged improper awarding of a public contract during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a newly published judicial report.
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A judge said a police report “reveals the existence of consistent evidence” suggesting Cerdán acted in collusion with former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and his former adviser, Koldo García Izaguirre, in exchange for financial gain.
Cerdán has been invited to testify voluntarily before the Supreme Court on June 25th.
Due to his parliamentary immunity, he cannot be formally charged unless the court proceeds with further steps.
“I am absolutely not afraid. I am completely certain that I will not be accused of corruption,” he said earlier on Thursday as he arrived in parliament before stepping down.
Ábalos, who served as transport minister from 2018 to 2021 and was once a key figure in current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s administration, is accused of receiving illegal commissions through business contracts.
He faces charges of corruption, influence peddling, and embezzlement.
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Ábalos was dismissed from Sánchez’s cabinet in 2021 and expelled from the Socialist Party earlier this year, but remains a member of parliament as an independent.
His parliamentary immunity was lifted in January. During a court hearing in December, he denied receiving any kickbacks and maintained there were no irregularities.
Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, and his brother, David Sánchez, are also the target of separate investigations for graft.
The Spanish prime minister has dismissed the probes against members of his inner circle as part of a “smear campaign” carried out by the right wing to undermine his government.
“Sánchez can no longer hide: he owes the country explanations, resignations, and elections,” the deputy leader of the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP), Cuca Gamarra, wrote on social network X on Thursday.
Sánchez is one of Europe’s longest serving Socialist leaders.
He came to power in June 2018 after ousting his PP predecessor, Mariano Rajoy, in a no-confidence vote over a corruption scandals affecting involving the conservative party.
Most recent polls show the PP holding a slim lead over the Socialists.
