Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Rodrigo Rato arrived at a Madrid prison on Thursday to start a four-and-a-half year jail term for using company credit cards to make costly personal purchases while running state-owned lender Bankia, Reuters reported.

Spain’s High Court ruled in 2017 that Rato was responsible for overseeing the misuse of credit cards at the bank, which involved 64 former Bankia executives, including Rato.

Corporate credit cards were used to buy jewels, holidays and expensive clothes, as well as more mundane everyday personal purchases. In total, prosecutors investigated some 12 million euros in spending between 2003 and 2012.

He appealed the ruling and denied any wrongdoing, arguing the expenses he accrued on the Bankia credit cards were legal.

But Spain’s Supreme Court confirmed earlier this month the four-and-half year jail sentence from the High Court and said it considered the sentence to be proportionate due to Rato’s preeminent position at Bankia.