Calama questions Zapatero over company established in Dubai linked to Plus Ultra rescue
Judge José Luis Calama has interrogated the former president over the creation of a company in the United Arab Emirates which, according to the investigation, would have served to conceal 530,000 euros.
Calama questions Zapatero over company established in Dubai linked to Plus Ultra rescue
During his appearance before Central Investigating Court number 6, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was subjected to intensive questioning over the reasons that led him to promote the opening of a firm in Emirati territory. The investigating judge, José Luis Calama, centred much of his proceedings on unravelling the purposes pursued with the creation of this entity, according to accounts from people with direct knowledge of the session.
Investigators suspect that the offshore company Landside Dubai Fzco—also referred to as Landside Middle East Fzco—was established with the objective of receiving half a million euros as hidden remuneration arising from the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra. The company, of offshore nature, would be entirely held by Idella Consulenza Strategica, which previously had entered into an agreement with the airline valued at 530,000 euros.
The business plan presented for the Emirati company envisaged a volume of operations of three million dollars over a five-year horizon. The investigators interpret that the percentage agreed with Idella—equivalent to one per cent of the public aid granted—could constitute a bribe disguised as a consultancy contract.
Doubts about the operation are strengthened by the short time margin between the signing of the agreement with Idella—19 January 2021—and the formation procedures of Landside—initiated on 26 January of the same year. Barely two months later, the Cabinet approved the financial rescue of the airline.
Police reports record that "the proximity in time between the birth of said company and the signing of the contract whereby Idella was to pay 530,000 euros—without the payment being recorded in Spanish territory—reinforces the thesis that the Dubai entity would have been designed to capture funds outside our borders, evading their tracking within the national system".
To implement the launch of the company, the former head of the Executive would have relied on the collaboration of his personal assistant, Gertrudis Alcázar, who managed the necessary procedures. The judge interprets that Zapatero would have made use of both her and Julio Martínez Martínez, Plus Ultra adviser, to establish an "international financial architecture" aimed at concealing capital.
Source: ABC
Source: ABC