Blow to Spanish PM as attorney general found guilty in leak case

Álvaro García Ortiz, who had denied sharing businessman’s personal details with journalists about a tax case, has been banned from post for two years

Spain’s top prosecutor has been banned from his post for two years after being found guilty of leaking confidential information about a tax case involving a businessman who is the boyfriend of a prominent rightwing politician.

Álvaro García Ortiz, who has served as attorney general since 2022, was also fined €7,300 (£6,428), and ordered to pay €10,000 in damages to the businessman, Alberto González Amador.

The verdict, announced by the supreme court on Thursday, will come as a blow to Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who had insisted on García Ortiz’s innocence, and who is under increasing pressure because of a series of corruption allegations facing his family and his allies.

García Ortiz, the first serving Spanish attorney general to face trial, had denied leaking personal information about González Amador to journalists when the businessman was under investigation for alleged tax fraud.