Top aide to former PSOE minister for transport under investigation over Covid mask bribes

A top aide of former transport minister José Luis Ábalos is under investigation for allegedly receiving a percentage cut on contracts to supply face masks worth 53 million euros at the height of the Covid pandemic.

Koldo García Izaguirre was known as the right-hand man of Socialist politician Ábalos who was transport minister until he was removed without reason in 2021. The supply of the face masks in question was to the ministries of Transport and the Interior, as well as the then PSOE-controlled Canaries and Balearics regions.

Speaking when news of the inquiry into his former staff member broke, Ábalos denied he had any knowledge of the supposed illegal activity. When asked about the emerging scandal which has shaken the government, PM Pedro Sánchez avoided answering if he thought his former minister would be drawn into the investigation.