MADRID, April 22 (Reuters) – Spain’s anti-corruption prosecutor said on Friday he would open a preliminary investigation into allegations of corporate bribery allegedly linked to government ministers who won lucrative contracts during the COVID pandemic -19.

The prosecutor’s office said it would assess the allegations submitted by Spain’s opposition People’s Party (PP) to determine whether the seven companies involved had received special treatment and whether there were grounds for a full investigation.

A contract for a marketing company allegedly linked to the husband of Economy Minister Nadia Calvino and the granting of government support to a company linked to the parents of socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez are under the spotlight.

Neither the economy ministry nor the prime minister’s office responded to a request for comment.

Another supplier in question is FCS Select Products SL, which according to the prosecutor won contracts for the supply of face masks and surgical gloves worth 263 million euros (284 million dollars), having registered a turnover of less than 1 million euros in 2018.

The prosecutor said the company’s reported beverage marketing activity had no connection to medical supplies and cited press reports associating it with former health minister Salvador Illa.

Reuters could not independently identify any connection between Illa and the company. Neither FCS nor Illa could be reached for comment.

Two years after COVID-19 swept the world, investigators are beginning to comb through the fine print of early signed contracts to determine whether politicians or contractors took advantage of the dire straits to make a quick buck.

In February, the prosecutor opened an investigation into the brother of the regional leader of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, of the PP, over a contract to supply suspicious masks. Ayuso denies any wrongdoing.

Separately, a court is investigating whether huge commissions charged by an aristocratic entrepreneur and his partner on the sale of masks to Madrid City Hall constituted illegal profit. Read more

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Reporting by Nathan Allen and Inti Landauro Editing by Mark Potter

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