Spanish prime minister’s wife charged with corruption

Pedro Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, and two others charged after investigation triggered by group with far-right links Begoña Gómez, the wife of Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been charged with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds at the end of a two-year investigation by a judge in Madrid. Gómez, 55, has been accused of using her influence as the wife of the socialist prime minister to secure and manage a post at Madrid’s Complutense University, and of using public resources and personal connections to further her private interests. The judge, Juan Carlos Peinado, has also charged Gómez’s personal assistant, Cristina Álvarez, and a businessman, Juan Carlos Barrabés, in connection with the case. The investigation into Gómez was triggered by a complaint from Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), a self-styled trade union with far-right links that has a history of using the courts to pursue those it deems a threat to Spain’s democratic interests. Sánchez had repeatedly dismissed the case against his wife as a baseless and politically motivated smear. The prime minister has accused his political and me