23/06/2026
🇪🇸 Fines, Asset Confiscation and Prison: What Spain’s Supreme Court Decided in the Koldo Case
Former Spanish Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos has received one of the harshest sentences handed down to a former member of the Spanish government in recent decades. On 22 June 2026, the Criminal Chamber of Spain’s Supreme Court in Madrid sentenced him to 24 years and three months in prison in a corruption case involving the procurement of medical face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ruling concerns the so-called Koldo case, also known as the face mask case. The court found that Ábalos, his former adviser Koldo García, and businessman Víctor de Aldama acted as an organised group that used access to public institutions to secure contracts and obtain personal benefits.
Ábalos was formally sentenced to 24 years and three months in prison, although the maximum period he can actually serve has been capped at 15 years and 18 months. This limitation applies in Spain when several sentences are combined. In addition to the prison term, the former minister was ordered to pay fines totalling €52,500 and was banned for many years from holding public positions involving the management of public funds, public contracts, or personnel recruitment.
Koldo García was sentenced to 19 years, eight months and one day in prison. The maximum period he can actually serve was set at 15 years. He was also ordered to pay fines totalling €45,750, banned from working in public institutions, and subjected to restrictions on his electoral rights for the periods specified in the ruling.
Víctor de Aldama was sentenced to four years and six months in prison and fines totalling €72,000. However, the court suspended the ex*****on of his prison sentence for five years. He must not commit any new offences, must report to the court every six months on his employment, commercial and business activities, and must complete one year of community service.
This decision is linked to the court’s finding that Aldama’s cooperation with the investigation was particularly significant. The ruling states that his testimony and the materials he provided helped uncover the offences. At the same time, the suspension of his prison sentence does not amount to an acquittal: the court confirmed his criminal responsibility for participating in a criminal organisation and for paying bribes.
💶 13 million masks and two public contracts
The central episode of the case concerns the supply of medical face masks during the first months of the pandemic. According to the court’s findings, Soluciones de Gestión, a company linked to Víctor de Aldama, obtained two contracts from bodies within Spain’s Ministry of Transport.
The first contract was signed through Puertos del Estado, Spain’s state ports authority. It covered the supply of 8 million masks worth €20 million, at a price of €2.50 per unit.
The second contract was arranged through ADIF, Spain’s railway infrastructure manager. It involved the purchase of another 5 million masks for €12.5 million.
The combined value of the two contracts was €32.5 million. The court found that the defendants used their influence within public institutions to ensure that the company linked to Aldama received the orders.
According to the court, Aldama received commissions of around €3.7 million from the transactions. However, this amount was not included in the final confiscation order in this ruling because the court acquitted the defendants on the charge related to the use of confidential information.
💶 Cash payments, rent and personal expenses
The Supreme Court separately established that the unlawful benefits connected to the proven bribery offences amounted to €430,298.
This sum included:
— €340,000 in regular payments: €10,000 per month over a period of 34 months;
— €82,295 for the rent of an apartment in Plaza de España in Madrid, where Ábalos’s former partner Jessica Rodríguez lived;
— €8,000 for the rental of Villa Parra in Marbella, used by Ábalos and his family.
This amount is subject to confiscation from all three convicted defendants as proceeds of crime.
In addition, Ábalos and Koldo García must jointly pay compensation to two state-owned companies. INECO will receive €34,450, while TRAGSATEC will receive €9,500.54. These payments are linked to the employment of Jessica Rodríguez in public-sector entities. The court concluded that her recruitment process had been arranged with Ábalos’s direct involvement and under Koldo García’s supervision.
The convicted defendants were also ordered to pay legal costs. Ábalos and García must each cover four fifteenths of the procedural costs, while Aldama must pay five twenty-firsts.
♦️ What Ábalos and Koldo García were convicted of
The court found Ábalos guilty of organising a criminal group, accepting bribes, misappropriating public funds, and influence peddling. The case was based not only on the face mask contracts but also on other episodes involving the use of political and administrative influence for the benefit of private individuals.
Koldo García was found guilty on the same core charges. The court stated that he acted as an intermediary between Ábalos, business figures and public institutions, while also taking part in arranging payments and resolving issues related to the employment of people close to the former minister.
However, the court did not uphold every accusation made during the proceedings. Ábalos and García were acquitted on charges related to the use of confidential information, as well as on certain allegations of misconduct in public office and document forgery. Víctor de Aldama was also acquitted of several charges brought against him.
♦️ How the investigation unfolded
The investigation began at Spain’s National Court in a case registered in 2023. The first arrests linked to the case took place in February 2024. Once evidence emerged involving José Luis Ábalos, who was then a member of the Congress of Deputies, part of the case was transferred to Spain’s Supreme Court.
In October 2024, the National Court sent a reasoned submission to the Supreme Court regarding Ábalos’s possible involvement. In November 2024, the Supreme Court reopened the special proceedings and appointed Judge Leopoldo Puente Segura to lead the investigation.
The investigation before the Supreme Court continued for around a year. In November 2025, the court ordered the case to move forward under an expedited criminal procedure against Ábalos, Koldo García and Víctor de Aldama. The trial took place in April and May 2026: hearings lasted for 14 sessions and included testimony from more than 70 witnesses, among them officials, businesspeople, experts, Civil Guard officers and people close to the defendants.
The ruling of 22 June 2026 became the first court decision concerning one of the central strands of the Koldo case. Other branches of the investigation, involving public contracts, the energy sector, possible money laundering and the activities of several commercial entities, continue to be examined separately.
The case matters across Spain because it concerns the use of public funds during an emergency public health situation. The ruling shows that the urgent nature of pandemic procurement does not shield officials or intermediaries from liability when public institutions are used for personal gain.
