The “initiative” of secretary Gertrudis Alcázar, the presence of “a bodyguard,” six emails, and a business plan. For the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police, these are the indications that “necessarily” lead to the conclusion that the “instructions” behind the arrangements for the “establishment” of the off shore company in Dubai came from former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The agents conveyed this conclusion on April 22 to the judge of the National Court in charge of the Plus Ultra case in a report, which EL PAÍS has accessed, containing six emails exchanged between January and March 2021. None of the mentioned emails were signed by the former leader.
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The content of this report expands on what Judge José Luis Calama had already warned in the resolution that agreed to charge Zapatero with possible crimes of influence peddling and related offenses. The instructor attributed to the former socialist leader the order to create “at least” one company in the United Arab Emirates to collect the commission for securing the Government of Pedro Sánchez’s bailout of the airline Plus Ultra in 2021. Now, after the lifting of the secrecy of the investigation file, the content of the UDEF report emerges, delving into the arrangements surrounding the creation of the off shore in Dubai.
The agents begin to reconstruct the story with a chain of emails exchanged between Zapatero’s secretary and Cristóbal Cano, identified as the “manager of the corporate environment” of Julio Martínez Martínez, a friend of the former president and administrator of Análisis Relevante — the consultancy at the center of the case for receiving payments from Plus Ultra and making payments to the former leader. The Police found these emails on the phone seized from this Alicante businessman in December, during his arrest and the search of his offices.
The first email highlighted in this section of the report was sent on January 26, 2021, from the corporate account “presidentezapatero.” It is signed “Gertru” and addressed to “Cristóbal.” “I’m leaving you a card from Portonovo, with a mobile number to call to make a reservation. They have a problem with the phones and in the end a bodyguard came by. Today’s reservation is already at 2:30 p.m., for two under Julio’s name. A hug,” reads the message sent to one of Cano’s corporate accounts.
“Both from the fact that the initiative comes from Gertrudis and the use of a bodyguard, it necessarily follows that the instructions must come from José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who arranges a meeting that Julio Martínez Martínez must attend,” the Police point out.
The agents note that “one day after” that email there is another sent by Tomás Guerrero Blanco — who “could” be a businessman from the Halal Trade and Marketing Centre of the Dubai Government — to Martínez Martínez. “Following up on what was discussed yesterday, here is the list of pending documents for the establishment of the company,” Guerrero Blanco writes from a Gmail account.
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According to the businessman, a “business plan” from Idella Consulenza Strategica was necessary, a company of Zapatero’s friend that had signed a contract with Plus Ultra to collect the 1% commission from the 53 million euro bailout of the airline. Also needed were the bank solvency certificate and the resolution from Idella approving the establishment of the new company in Dubai. The email attaches the “model” to “complete and submit for legalization by Justice, Foreign Affairs, and the UAE Embassy.” “When you can, send them to me so we can finalize everything,” adds “Tomás,” who closes the message with a postscript saying he was going to put him in contact with “the free zone officials” to guide him through the process via their platform. “It’s a simple/intuitive process.”
An hour and a half later, Guerrero Blanco sends another email in which he “more specifically details the possible name of the Dubai company, the contact address, etc.,” the Police emphasize. That same January 27, Cristóbal Cano replies with an email attaching the completed documentation and acknowledges that the “new company” is called Landside Dubai FZCO, “100% owned by Idella.” The next communication highlighted by the UDEF is one Cano sent on February 23 to Martínez Martínez. “Copy of SEPI fee contract,” reads the subject. It is the agreement to collect 1% plus VAT from the Plus Ultra bailout. The agents emphasize that the report from the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) “does not show” that the airline made any payment to Idella.
The sixth and last email the Police include in this section was sent by Cano on March 3, 2021, at 10:04 a.m. to Martínez Martínez. Subject: “Establishment of Company in Dubai – Remaining Documentation.” Attached is a document called “Landside Middle East FZCO Business Plan” detailing that the off shore company intended to offer “professional consulting services” to companies and business organizations from Spanish-speaking countries interested in having a presence and/or doing business in the United Arab Emirates, as well as to Dubai companies interested in expanding in Spain and Latin America. According to the business plan, the company expected to obtain “at least 3 million euros” in five years. The UDEF stresses that the name planned for the company in the January 27 email does not match the one in the business plan and warns that it is unknown “whether these are two different companies or if the second name was ultimately the definitive one.”
From this chain of emails, the agents deduce that there is a “possibility” that the Dubai company was created so that “the payment agreed between Plus Ultra and Idella would not be made in Spain, but in a bank account held by Landside in a foreign territory.” After analyzing the police report and the rest of the material gathered in the investigation, the judge agrees. Calama considers that the 1% contract, the meeting in which Zapatero is said to have participated, and the absence of payments in Spain after the bailout reinforce the hypothesis that the United Arab Emirates company could have been created to collect the commission outside Spain.
Thus, the instructor understands that there is sufficient evidence in this “embryonic phase” of the case of the existence of an international corporate and financial structure designed to channel illicit funds, conceal the real ownership of assets, and move capital outside the national territory.
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