Ex-IMF Chief Rato Bags Four-Year Jail Term for Tax Fraud

A Madrid court sentenced Rodrigo Rato, the former chief of the International Monetary Fund, to more than four years in prison on Friday for corruption, money laundering, and tax violations.

Rato, a former Spanish economics minister, was convicted of "three offenses against the treasury, one offense of money laundering, and one offense of corruption between individuals," according to a court statement.

Throughout the nine-year inquiry, Rato, who has already served two years in prison for a separate embezzlement case while acting as chairman of Spanish lender Bankia, has denied any wrongdoing.

Rato will not be required to serve any prison time until the decision is confirmed, according to a court official, because it can be challenged by the Court.

Rato, 75, who led the IMF from 2004 to 2007 and Bankia from 2010 to 2012, had already served two years in prison after being convicted in 2017 of misusing Bankia credit cards to buy diamonds, trips, and expensive apparel.

In the most recent corruption case, prosecutors demanded a total jail sentence of 63 years for the 11 charges against him.

Rato's lawyer, Ms Maria Masso of Baker McKenzie, sought the court to dismiss the accusations in 2023, claiming that Rato's rights were violated during a 2015 home search and that the evidence obtained during the raid should be thrown away.

The court also ordered Rato to pay almost €2 million (S$2.8 million) in fines and €568,413 to tax officials.

Rato, who was deputy prime minister in the conservative People's Party government from 1996 to 2004, was cleared of a second fraud trial in 2012 involving Bankia's listing.