“I had no intention of defrauding and the last thing I thought about was the patrimonial value.” This is how former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero referred for the first time to the 103 pieces of jewelry found in his office on May 19 and valued at 1.3 million euros.
In an interview with Javier Ruiz on the program Mañaneros 360, the former socialist leader stressed that it is “a courtesy gift” that “has nothing to do with any political task,” although he did not specify the origin of the jewels.
“It is a story without intention or patrimonial ambition,” he continued, “a personal gift from many years ago that was with all the family jewels,” as well as “other gifts.” “They had no use or destination, nor have we thought about them, nor about the value that has been attributed, which by the way will be subject to contradiction,” he added.
Along these lines, Zapatero insisted that, “out of respect for the criminal procedure,” he will clarify “all circumstances before Justice.” However, in his statement before the National Court judge José Luis Calama on June 17, ZP refused to make statements on the matter.
The former socialist president was charged in the framework of the Plus Ultra case on May 19. That same day, the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) registered his office -where it found 103 pieces of jewelry valued at 1.3 million euros-, his daughters’ company and another belonging to a Venezuelan family.
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“I didn’t know what the Sepi Council was going to do”
In the framework of the same case, Zapatero’s payer, Julio Martínez Martínez, declared last Tuesday in court that it was the former Prime Minister who anticipated to him, specifically on February 26, 2021, that the Government was going to grant the rescue to the airline Plus Ultra. The credit was approved several days later by the Council of Ministers, specifically on March 9, 2021.
The former socialist leader has “totally” denied these statements: “I didn’t know what the Sepi Council was going to do, I don’t know anyone from the Sepi Council and the processing [of the airline’s rescue, worth 53 million public euros] was theirs, and then the Council of Ministers. I never knew if the airline was going to be rescued or not.”
In his statement before the National Court magistrate José Luis Calama on June 17, Zapatero disassociated himself from the allegedly criminal activities attributed to him in the framework of the Plus Ultra case.
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