Police find offshore company of Zapatero's frontman in British Virgin Islands

Landside Holding Ltd, based in the Caribbean tax haven, manages a portfolio of more than 560,000 dollars and acted on behalf of Venezuelan banking.

Plus Ultra case: new offshore company linked to Zapatero's circle

The Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) has located a company registered in the British Virgin Islands in the name of businessman Julio Martínez Martínez, a friend of former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and identified by investigators as his lieutenant in the alleged influence-peddling scheme in the Plus Ultra case. According to El País, the company is called Landside Holding Ltd and maintains an investment portfolio valued at more than half a million dollars, managed by a United States broker.

The discovery comes from a laptop seized from Martínez Martínez on 11 December, the date of his detention. Among the files found are portfolio statements from different years: values of over 560,000 dollars in 2019 and over 600,000 dollars in 2023. The broker operates through a United States firm called Mora WM Securities LLC, according to police documentation.

Second offshore company in the investigation

This is the second entity located in an offshore territory discovered in the framework of the Plus Ultra case, which is being heard by National Court judge José Luis Calama. The first, based in the emirate of Dubai, bears a similar name—Landside Dubai Fzco—and was established, according to the magistrate, on Zapatero's instructions with the purpose of collecting a commission of 1% from the 53 million euro public aid granted to the airline Plus Ultra.

The British Virgin Islands, a Caribbean territory, are classified as a tax haven by the Spanish Tax Authority for not cooperating in the international fight against fraud. The UDEF report, to which El País has had access, indicates that Landside Holding Ltd is "chaired and represented" by Martínez Martínez and that it signed a contract to act "in the name and representation" of the Economic and Social Development Bank (Bandes) of Venezuela in negotiations with Noor Capital SPC, an investment firm based in Abu Dhabi. The agreed fees amounted to 8.75% "of the funds raised during the negotiations".

The origin of the Dubai company: a lunch in Madrid

The police report also reconstructs the steps prior to the establishment of the Dubai company. According to the UDEF, everything began with a lunch held on 26 January 2021 in a Madrid restaurant, attended by Zapatero, Martínez Martínez and a third unidentified person. Following this meeting, María Gertrudi Alcázar, secretary to the former president, began an exchange of messages to promote the creation of the company, in which Cristóbal Cano, Martínez Martínez's right-hand man, also participated.

The project envisaged offering "professional consulting services" to Spanish-speaking companies interested in the United Arab Emirates and to Emirati companies seeking to expand in Spain and Latin America. The business plan projected revenues of three million dollars over five years and mentioned clients of significance in both regions.

The UDEF: instrument to conceal the commission

The investigators conclude, however, that the Dubai company—intended as 100% owned by the Spanish commercial entity Ideella Consulenza Strategia SL, owned by Martínez Martínez—would have served to channel abroad the commission derived from the Plus Ultra bailout and thus avoid its "traceability" in Spanish territory.

A report from the National Office for Fraud Investigation (ONIF), dependent on the Tax Authority, indicates that there is no record that the airline ever paid that commission.

Two names, one unknown

Police also warn that in the messages exchanged by the alleged members of the scheme, two similar but different names appear for the Dubai company: Landside Dubai Fzco and Landside Middle East Fzco. The investigators acknowledge that the investigations have not yet made it possible to determine "whether these are two distinct companies or whether the second name was ultimately the definitive one".

Source: El País