Madrid: Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief and Spanish economy minister Rodrigo Rato has been sentenced to four years, nine months, and one day in prison for tax crimes, money laundering, and corruption.

A Madrid court announced the verdict on Friday, which also includes a fine of over two million euros ($2.1 million). Rato, once a prominent figure in Spain’s conservative Popular Party, has the option to appeal the ruling at the Supreme Court.

The court found Rato guilty of defrauding the Spanish tax office of 8.5 million euros between 2005 and 2015. Judges convicted him of "three offences against the Treasury, one offence of money laundering, and one offence of corruption between individuals," according to the court statement.

This is not Rato’s first legal trouble. In 2018, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for misusing funds while leading Spanish lender Bankia. He was found guilty of using company credit cards for personal expenses during his tenure at the bank from 2010 to 2012.

Rato’s tenure at Bankia became emblematic of financial excess during a time of economic crisis in Spain. Public outrage deepened when the Spanish government spent 22 billion euros on a bailout for the failing lender.

Before his banking career, Rato held high-profile positions in government, serving as Spain’s economy minister and deputy prime minister under José María Aznar. He later became managing director of the IMF from 2004 to 2007.

Rato’s 2018 sentence was partially served under a semi-open prison regime beginning in late 2020. His latest conviction underscores his fall from grace, as he remains a controversial figure in both Spanish and global financial circles.