Iglesias invokes 'lawfare' following Zapatero's imputación in Plus Ultra case
Pablo Iglesias described Zapatero's imputación for money laundering as evidence that "defines the history of Spanish Justice very well". The Plus Ultra case investigates the use of 53 million from the SEPI rescue.
Iglesias questions Zapatero's imputación and speaks of 'lawfare'
According to ABC, the imputación of former Government president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for money laundering in the Plus Ultra case has generated a political rift within the Sanchismo movement and its allies. Pablo Iglesias, former second deputy president of Pedro Sánchez's Government, responded through his social networks casting doubt on the investigation by the Audiencia Nacional and stirring the concept of 'lawfare'.
The former leader of Unidas Podemos and director of Canal Red TV pointed out as paradoxical that, being Zapatero the first former president imputado, other ex-leaders such as Adolfo Suárez, Felipe González, José María Aznar, Mariano Rajoy and the emeritus king Juan Carlos I had been involved in political and judicial episodes without reaching that point. "That with what we know today about Suárez, about Felipe González, about Aznar, about Rajoy and about Juan Carlos I, Zapatero is the first president imputado, defines very well the history of Spanish justice and of our political system," wrote Iglesias.
The former Unidas Podemos leader further suggested that the charges attributed to Zapatero—money laundering, criminal organisation, trafficking in influence and document falsification, with sentences of up to eight years—respond to an agenda aimed at destabilising the left-wing bloc, which arrives greatly weakened following the Andalusian elections, where it reaped its worst historical result after Sánchez entrusted María Jesús Montero to lead the candidacy against Juanma Moreno.
The judicial proceeding and the 53 million from the SEPI rescue
The judge of the Audiencia Nacional José Luis Calama opened a parallel proceeding following the extraction of devices belonging to Julio Martínez Martínez, identified as Zapatero's payer through the company Análisis Relevante. In those devices there are communications maintained with the former president, and the operative detected raises suspicion of a mechanism intended for money laundering.
The investigation of the Plus Ultra case began following a complaint from the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office in 2024, driven by warnings from anti-fraud units in Switzerland and France. The Economic Crime and Tax Unit (UDEF) of the National Police analysed whether there was a "misuse" of the 53 million euros of the rescue granted by the State Industrial Participations Company (SEPI). The hypothesis being investigated is that part of that money would have served to pay loans to other Venezuelan companies unrelated to the rescue operation of the airline. In the alleged money laundering operative, citizens from France, Switzerland and Spain would have been involved.
Source: ABC