Rodrigo Rato, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, was sentenced to more than four years in prison by a Madrid court on Friday for corruption, money laundering, and tax offenses.
The court said in a statement that Rato, a former Spanish minister of economy, had been found guilty of “three offences against the treasury, one offence of money laundering, and one offence of corruption between individuals.”
During the nine-year investigation, Rato, who has already served two years in prison for a different embezzlement case while serving as chairman of Spanish lender Bankia, has denied any wrongdoing.
Rato will not have to serve any prison time until the decision is finalized, according to a court official, because it can be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Rato, 75, who commanded the IMF from 2004 to 2007 and Bankia from 2010 to 2012, previously served two years in prison after being convicted in 2017 of misusing Bankia credit cards to purchase diamonds, vacations, and fancy clothing.
In the more recent corruption case, prosecutors sought a cumulative jail sentence of 63 years for the 11 offenses brought against him.
Rato’s lawyer, Ms Maria Masso of law firm Baker McKenzie, urged the court to dismiss the accusations in 2023, stating that Rato’s rights were violated during a 2015 home search, and thus the evidence acquired during the raid should be thrown out.
The court also ordered Rato to pay more than €2 million (S$2.8 million) in fines and €568,413 to tax officials.
Rato, who served as deputy prime minister in the conservative People’s Party government from 1996 to 2004, was acquitted in a second fraud trial regarding Bankia’s listing in 2012.
