The former president of Plus Ultra Julio Martínez Sola declared this Monday before the judge that he agreed to pay a 1% commission “to the Zapatero group” so that the airline could obtain a 53 million bailout concession.
Sola appeared as a defendant before the National Court judge José Luis Calama, who is investigating the actions of the former Prime Minister. For more than two hours he answered questions from the investigating magistrate and the Anti-Corruption prosecutor Elena Lorente, as well as from his defense.
The accused ratified the content of the document sent to the court in July, in which he acknowledged those payments and the negotiations held with Julio Martínez Martínez, considered the representative of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Sola indicated that he does not know what specific actions Zapatero might have taken for Plus Ultra to get the government’s green light in March 2021. Not even if those actions were carried out. Nor, he added, could he say whether the favorable result was due to that intervention by the former president or because, as he claims, the airline met the requirements to access the Strategic Companies Solvency Support Fund.
In response to the magistrate’s questions, the former executive did justify the payment of the 1% commission, which in chats among the accused was called a “kickback.” It was a “success” commission that would only be paid if the bailout was obtained.
Sola’s statement precedes tomorrow’s of the former Plus Ultra CEO Roberto Roselli, who also sent his own statement to the Court, consistent with Sola’s. Joining their statements is that of Julito Martínez himself, who admitted to the judge that Plus Ultra’s payments were for the former president.
