Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief and Spanish deputy prime minister Rodrigo Rato has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. The Madrid Provincial Court found him guilty of tax fraud, money laundering, and corruption.
The 75-year-old, who held key roles in Spain’s government from 1996 to 2004 under Jose Maria Aznar, was convicted of hiding assets in offshore accounts. Investigators traced over €15 million ($15.6 million) in undeclared funds stashed in countries like the Bahamas, Switzerland, Monaco, Luxembourg, and the UK.
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Prosecutors revealed that between 2005 and 2015, Rato evaded taxes and pocketed €8.5 million ($9.3 million). They also accused him of exploiting a 2012 tax amnesty introduced by Mariano Rajoy’s government. Instead of legalizing his finances, Rato used the amnesty to launder illegal funds, according to Spain’s Anti-Corruption Office.
During the trial, Rodrigo Rato acknowledged the charges while sitting alongside 16 co-defendants, including relatives and close associates, accused of aiding his schemes.
This is not Rato’s first conviction. In 2017, he was sentenced to four years and six months for misusing corporate credit cards during his tenure as CEO of the failed Bankia savings bank. He served two years behind bars from 2018 to 2020.
The high-profile case highlights Spain’s ongoing battle against corruption in public office, bringing further scrutiny to its political and financial elites.
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