Begoña Gómez and her advisor at Moncloa testify today as suspects for alleged embezzlement.

Begoña Gómez, the wife of the Prime Minister, is scheduled to testify this Wednesday before Judge Juan Carlos Peinado for alleged misappropriation of funds in the hiring and performance of her advisor at Moncloa, Cristina Álvarez, who is also summoned for the same reason.

The judge of Madrid's 41st Court of First Instance is seeking clarification on whether there were irregularities in the advisor's appointment and the work she performed. This is part of a separate case from the main case, in which the judge was already investigating Gómez for alleged influence peddling, business corruption, intrusion, and misappropriation of funds.

In this case, the judge already took a statement from Minister Félix Bolaños in Moncloa, having been Secretary General of the Presidency of the Government when Cristina Álvarez was appointed in July 2018. He then proposed charging him in the Supreme Court, which, however, rejected the proposal outright, citing an "absolute" lack of evidence.

It was in August when Peinado charged Gómez and Álvarez, basing his case on the ruling issued by the Madrid Court in June, which stated that the investigation should focus on whether the advisor "exceeded the limits of her public duties entrusted to her to support the criminal plan of the person under investigation - Begoña Gómez - in the crime of influence peddling, by means of the misappropriation of public funds improperly placed at the service of particular or strictly private interests."

He did so despite initially denying, in a May ruling, that there was any evidence of embezzlement against either of them, while accusing the current government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín, who also held the position of Secretary General of the Presidency of the Government, of this crime.

Recently, both Gómez and Álvarez have appealed their charges.

Gómez's lawyer says he is aware that the judge will not suspend his summons, but he makes it clear that there is no evidence of embezzlement in a case in which Peinado's interpretation of the Penal Code is "exorbitant," "extremely broad, and far from reality."

In another appeal, she challenges the judge's request for a copy of the emails received and sent from an account assigned to Begoña Gómez since July 2018, as the judge did so through a court order and not a reasoned ruling.

This Wednesday will be the fourth time Begoña Gómez has appeared at the Plaza de Castilla courthouse, where the Hazte Oír organization—the plaintiff in the case—has called for a rally.

The first two times, Gómez did not testify—first, he claimed he had no notice of a complaint, and the second, he invoked his right not to do so—and the third time, he answered his lawyer's questions.

The latter was on December 18, when Begoña Gómez denied any wrongdoing in the chair she co-directed at the Complutense University of Madrid and asserted that she did not intervene on behalf of businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés because he did not participate in any public bidding process.

Since then, the investigating judge has been adjusting the case based on the rulings of the Provincial Court, which has narrowed it down on several occasions.

Government sources have told EFE that the statement from the president's wife is another step in a process that responds to the political and judicial persecution of Pedro Sánchez's family.