The investigation of the Plus Ultra case enters a new phase after the magistrate of the National Court José Luis Calama and the Anti-Corruption prosecutor Elena Lorente have decided to thoroughly investigate the granting of the public bailout, according to EL MUNDO.
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Various sources consulted in the investigation indicate that both Calama and the Public Ministry want to find out if the airline met the legal requirements necessary to access the aid of 53 million euros. Yesterday, during the interrogation of Julio Martínez Sola, the intentions of the judge and prosecutor were already glimpsed.
It so happens that the Venezuelan Rodolfo Reyes and his wife, the Spanish Aurora López, came to hold 64 percent of the company, which led prosecutor Lorente to question how a company controlled by foreign capital could access the aid from the Strategic Companies Solvency Support Fund during the Covid pandemic.
Furthermore, the Anti-Corruption prosecutor focused on the money laundering carried out after the bailout, allegedly with the loans received by Plus Ultra.
For his part, the answers given by the former company president Julio Martínez Sola went in two directions. On one hand, defending that the company met the requirements established by law to access the million-euro aid from the Sepi (although the defendant stated that he did not intervene in the day-to-day operations of the company) and, on the other, distancing himself from the subsequent money laundering in Venezuela that has been investigated from the outset in this case.
The most relevant part of the interrogation came, however, when Martínez Sola admitted yesterday before the judge that he agreed to pay a 1% commission “to the Zapatero group” so that the airline could obtain a state bailout of 53 million euros.
During the more than two hours in which he answered the questions of the investigating magistrate, the prosecutor, and his defense, the businessman confirmed the content of the document sent in July to the court, in which he acknowledged those payments and the negotiations held with Julio Martínez Martínez, considered the representative and frontman of Rodríguez Zapatero.
Sola maintained that he does not know what specific arrangements Zapatero could have made for Plus Ultra to get the green light from the Government in March 2021. Not even if those arrangements were made, although he believes they were because the state aid was received.
In response to the magistrate, the former executive did justify the payment of the 1% commission, which in chats among the investigated was called a “kickback.” It was a “success” commission that would only be paid if the bailout was obtained. He indicated that this kickback was paid to ensure that the bailout was granted by the Government of Pedro Sánchez. Faced with “doubt,” they paid. The former president of Plus Ultra has always maintained that both he and his then CEO, Roberto Roselli, initially thought that Zapatero’s arrangements would have no cost but later realized that they did.
Martínez Sola also confirmed the call he received on April 30, 2020, from a hidden number from former president Zapatero himself. During that conversation, lasting approximately 10 minutes, the businessman explained to the former PSOE leader the difficult financial situation the company was going through and the need to access an ICO loan. According to the businessman, Zapatero replied that his intervention could be helpful and that he would make the appropriate arrangements.
This Tuesday is the turn for the testimony of the former Plus Ultra CEO Roberto Roselli, who has also decided to cooperate with Justice and admit to paying the bribe to Zapatero and his former partner Julito.
Joining their testimonies is that of Julio Martínez Martínez himself, who admitted to the judge that Plus Ultra’s payments were for the former Prime Minister.
