The “difficult times” are only overcome with “the support of friends and good relationships.” That’s what a Plus Ultra executive told Julio Martínez Martínez, the Alicante businessman who allegedly acted as the enforcer for former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in his alleged corrupt dealings. This crowned a year of, supposedly, intense influence peddling to get the Spanish government to inject 53 million euros into the Venezuelan airline. The investigations, led by the National Court and driven by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, provide a detailed account of the evolution of these relationships, in which the name of the former socialist leader appears at specific moments, when necessity was pressing, through his self-styled “team.”
The pandemic breaks out. The judicial investigation places the start of everything on March 12, 2020, with the adoption of the first measures to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. Shortly after, on the 23rd of that month, former Plus Ultra executive Rodolfo Reyes contacted lawyer Miguel Palomero. “We need to get to the aid (…) Let’s see what you can come up with politically. Where to knock on doors,” he told him. “We knock on (José Luis) Ábalos,” the lawyer proposed, referring to the then Minister of Transport.
March 30, 2020. Reyes also approached the airline’s president, Julio Martínez Sola, and Venezuelan diplomat Ramón Gordils to explore other avenues of influence. “Do you think we can ask Zapatero for help?” he asked the latter, who replied: “Go through the formal route and I’ll find a way to reach Zapatero.” Martínez Sola also agreed. “As a friend says, let’s screw even if we have to pay a little bit.”
April 28, 2020. Reyes told Martínez Sola that they had already managed to access the former Spanish president: “The bridge with ZP has just been made.”
April 30, 2020. The former executive informed Gordils that the Plus Ultra president had managed to speak “11 minutes” with Zapatero.
May 4, 2020. Meanwhile, the alleged plot explored the Ábalos route. Palomero told Reyes that they had made an approach to Koldo García, “the minister’s right-hand man.”
May 16, 2020. The concept of “the team” emerges for the first time, which according to the implicated parties themselves would be made up of “the friend” ―of whom no further details are given―; Manuel Fajardo, “Zapatero’s man in Venezuela,” and Martínez Martínez, the businessman friend of the former head of government. In those days, Plus Ultra’s financial director, Roberto Roselli, explained to Reyes that he did not speak directly with Zapatero, but with his “lackey,” Martínez Martínez, who in turn conveyed to Martínez Sola the existence of the “finance boutique” designed to collect the alleged kickbacks.
May 25, 2020. The first movement in Zapatero’s name is detected. Roselli sent a letter to the vice president of Banco Santander indicating that, “following the president’s instructions,” they were requesting help to obtain an ICO loan. A day later, Reyes asked Roselli how “Zapatero’s dealings” with the bank were going. They are moving, he assured him. Financial sources clarify to EL PAÍS that this request never materialized.
July 3, 2020. The Support Fund for the Solvency of Strategic Companies (FASEE) affected by the pandemic was created. Days later, on July 7, Reyes told Palomero about the need to “reach Ábalos.” After that, the investigations reveal that on the 22nd of that month a meeting took place between Plus Ultra executives and the then Secretary of State for Transport, Pedro Saura, which the airline’s officials attributed to Zapatero’s good offices. “Yes, bro. Our buddy Zapatero, behind it,” Reyes wrote.
July 30, 2020. Análisis Relevante, Martínez Martínez’s company, signed a one-year consulting contract with Plus Ultra for 72,600 euros to supposedly receive monthly reports on “the political, economic, and social situation in the world, especially Spain and Latin America.”
August 21, 2020. The investigations reveal that the alleged plot tried another route. Roselli indicated that “Zapatero’s team” had to move the file at the State Industrial Holdings Company (SEPI), which was the entity granting public aid, to which Reyes added that if they succeeded, they would gift Indra the 44,000 euros offered for four weeks to “review and complete” Plus Ultra’s viability plan and would also sign a lifetime contract with the Spanish company. The airline executives quickly discarded this option due to lack of progress.
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September 1, 2020. Plus Ultra formally submitted its bailout request to SEPI.
September 7, 2020. Zapatero met with the then Minister of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, according to messages intercepted in the Koldo case.
September 16, 2020. Plus Ultra executives began to get nervous because their file was “completely stalled” at SEPI due to lack of staff. Roselli told Reyes it might be a good time for “Zapatero to talk to someone at SEPI.” In those days, Martínez Sola talked about demanding guarantees from the former president or his “team” that the aid would be granted “with 100% certainty.” “We need that push,” Reyes confirmed.
September 30, 2020. Roselli told Reyes that Martínez Martínez would talk to SEPI. The former executive replied that the key was the two million euros. After a few minutes, the financial director had received a call from SEPI. The review had started. The alleged plot attributed it to “a letter whose details are unknown,” as stated in the court order.
November 5, 2020. A payment of 6,050 euros was made to Análisis Relevante.
December 17, 2020. After several information requests from SEPI, Plus Ultra executives agreed to send some documents that were “makeup.” Shortly after, they sent the tender documents.
January 19, 2021. Plus Ultra signed a consulting contract with Idella Consulenza Strategica, another company controlled by Martínez Martínez, for 1% of the SEPI bailout: 530,000 euros plus VAT. This is the same company behind an offshore entity created in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). The judge suspects that the investigated parties tried to divert the commission from the mentioned bailout abroad.
February 6, 2021. Reyes asked Martínez Sola to organize a lunch with Venezuelan businessman Camilo Ibrahim Issa and Martínez Martínez. “Camilo was with ZP today. He said everything is going smoothly.” “I knew it,” replied the Plus Ultra president.
February 26, 2021. Martínez Martínez sent a message to Issa informing him that Plus Ultra had obtained the long-awaited bailout. The official SEPI meeting did not take place until March 2, and the public aid was not granted until the 9th of that month. However, the alleged plot already knew it. “Without a doubt, many thanks for the support. Difficult times that are only overcome with the support of friends and good relationships,” Reyes celebrated in a message to the Alicante businessman.
March 9, 2021. Plus Ultra executives and Martínez Martínez celebrated the success with a lunch on a terrace in Madrid. “SEPI does not approve these expenses,” joked Zapatero’s friend. “Don’t worry, that comes out of the 1%,” Roselli responded. The bailout was 53 million euros.
April 15, 2021. Martínez Solá told Reyes that his namesake had called him very angry to say that “his boss” was also upset about an interview Roselli had given to the press about the Plus Ultra bailout. A day earlier, the financial director himself was communicating with Martínez Martínez to lament that he had “abandoned him.”
