Ex-IMF chief Rato sentenced to new prison term over corruption

FILE PHOTO: Former International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato, found guilty of embezzlement in 2018, leaves court after facing the first day of a new trial on charges of corruption, money laundering and tax dodging, with the prosecutor requesting a sentence of over 60 years in prison in Madrid, Spain, December 15, 2023. REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo

MADRID (Reuters) -A Madrid court has sentenced former International Monetary Fund chief Rodrigo Rato to almost five years in prison for various crimes related to corruption, the court said on Friday.

Rato, who had already spent two years in prison over a separate embezzlement case during his tenure as chairman of Spanish lender Bankia, has denied any wrongdoing throughout the nine-year probe.