Proven Corruption, Former IMF Boss Rodrigo Rato Sentenced To Nearly 5 Years In Prison

JAKARTA - The court in Madrid, Spain, sentenced former International Monetary Fund Implementing Director (IMF) Rodrigo Rato to nearly five years in prison. He was convicted of corruption.

Rato, who has spent two years in prison for embezzlement during his tenure as chairman of the Spanish bank, Bankia, has denied wrongdoing.

After a year-long trial, the court sentenced Rato to three crimes against Spanish tax authorities, corruption and money laundering.

The court sentenced four years and nine months.

"Because the verdict, aka the verdict, can be appealed to the Supreme Court, Rato does not need to serve a prison sentence for now until there is a final verdict," said a court spokesman.

Reported by Reuters, Friday, December 20, Rato (75) who led the IMF from 2004 to 2007 and Bankia between 2010 and 2012, was previously convicted in 2017 of misuse of Bankia's credit card to buy expensive jewelry, holidays, and clothing.

In the latest corruption case, the prosecutor demanded a total prison sentence of 63 years on 11 charges against him.

Last year, Rato's lawyer, Maria Masso, of law firm Baker McKenzie, asked the court to overturn the indictment, arguing Rato's rights had been violated during his home search in 2015.

That way, said the lawyer, the evidence obtained in the raid must be canceled.

The court also ordered Rato to pay a fine of more than two million euros ($2.08 million), and 568,413 euros to the tax authorities.