Gustavo de Aristegui resigned following news that he had received alleged corporate kickbacks from Spanish companies

Spain on Monday confirmed that its ambassador to India, Gustavo de Aristegui, has “voluntarily resigned”. Mr. Aristegui resigned following news that he had allegedly received illegal corporate kickbacks from Spanish companies working in developing countries and sent money all the way up to senior Spanish politicians.

Investigation has so far revealed that most of the companies involved in the scam are building solar energy and infrastructure projects in at least 30 countries. Spanish sources told The Hindu that investigation are underway on whether some contracts had Indian links and if Mr Aristegui took commissions from Spanish companies for contracts in India. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Hindu that Mr Aristegui’s resignation was immediately accepted by the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

“Spain’s ambassador to India has resigned citing private reasons. He sent in his resignation on Sunday, December 13. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain has decided not to comment on the reasons behind the resignation as Ambassador Aristegui has cited the reasons as private and personal,” an official in the spokesperson’s office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid said.

The resignation has come as a setback to Prime Minister Rajoy and his Popular Party (PP), who are seeking re-election in the December 20 poll. What has particularly hurt the Mr. Rajoy is that Mr Aristegui’s partner in this episode is Pedro Gomez de la Serne, a prominent member of parliament and a leader from thePP.

According to Spanish foreign ministry sources, Mr Aristegui has cited his allegiance to Prime Minister Rajoy while resigning from the post of Spain’s ambassador to India.

Two prominent newspapers El Pais and El Mundo have been reporting about the “commission scam” involving Mr. Aristegui for sometime. A whistle blower, who was a former corporate employee, had exposed the scam, hinting that Mr. Aristegui used his diplomatic reach in Madrid to earn commissions from Spanish companies for construction work in Algeria and several other countries. Mr Aristegui and Mr Serna are accused of floating a firm and having earned millions from Spanish corporate houses.