First appearance as a suspect

Jésica Rodríguez, the former partner of ex-Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, refused to answer questions during her first court appearance as a formal suspect on Monday at Spain's National Court. The hearing before Judge Ismael Moreno follows a Supreme Court ruling that sentenced Ábalos to 24 years in prison and flagged Rodríguez as a potential beneficiary of influence-peddling and embezzlement. She arrived at the court disguised with a wig, face mask and sunglasses to shield her identity from assembled media cameras.

The prosecution's allegations

Anti-corruption prosecutors accuse Rodríguez, Joseba García (brother of Ábalos's former adviser Koldo García) and former Adif administrative director Ignacio Zaldívar of arranging no-show jobs at two state-owned companies subcontracted by rail infrastructure manager Adif. The Supreme Court's mask-contract ruling established that Rodríguez collected 43,950 euros in salary without performing any work, first at Ineco and later at Tragsatec, with the explicit aim of the scheme being that she would not work yet receive a monthly wage.

Conflicting accounts from the trial

During Ábalos's trial at the Supreme Court, Rodríguez testified as a witness that she remained at home for two years while on the payroll, communicating daily with the minister who was fully aware of the arrangement. She stated Koldo García instructed her to tell anyone asking about her role that she was assisting his brother Joseba. However, Joseba García contradicted this account, telling the court he was not her supervisor and had only spoken to her occasionally as workplace colleagues. On Monday, Joseba García made a brief statement denying any involvement in covering up her absence from work, according to sources present at the hearing.

The wider scheme

According to the Supreme Court ruling, Ábalos and Koldo García contacted Isabel Pardo de Vera, then president of Adif, to secure Rodríguez's transfer to Tragsatec when her Ineco contract neared its end. The court found that Pardo de Vera instructed Zaldívar to arrange the new contract, which began on 2 March 2021 with almost no interruption in employment. Zaldívar later told the court he acted as a 'transmission belt' of information between Ineco and Pardo de Vera after the minister called to say someone at Ineco was bothering his former partner.

“Rodríguez not only performed no work at the companies that hired her, but the founding purpose of the criminal plan was precisely that she would not work and, despite that, receive a monthly salary.”

What comes next

The three suspects now face potential charges of embezzlement and influence-trafficking. Judge Moreno ordered the investigation on 3 July 2026 after the Supreme Court ruling highlighted 'not discardable and potential responsibility' concerning Rodríguez. All three exercised their right to remain silent during Monday's session, a procedural shift for Rodríguez, whose extensive testimony at the earlier trial had helped establish the facts that led to Ábalos's conviction and 24-year sentence.