The Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the police found in an industrial warehouse belonging to businessman Julio Martínez Martínez, a friend of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the contract signed between him and Plus Ultra that stipulated that the airline would pay the company Idella Consulenza Strategica, represented by Martínez Martínez, 1% plus the amount of the bailout granted by the Government. According to a police report included in the Plus Ultra case file, accessed by EL PAÍS, the document specifies that it is a “professional services contract” and is dated January 19, 2021, two months before the approval of the 53 million bailout for the airline company.
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The contract that made Martínez Martínez a participant in part of the money that Plus Ultra would receive from the Support Fund for the Solvency of Strategic Companies (FASEE) is one of the indications that the National Court judge José Luis Calama included to charge the former Prime Minister with influence peddling and other related crimes. The instructor highlighted that, six days after the contract was signed, Zapatero ordered the establishment in Dubai of an offshore company, 100% owned by Idella Consulenza Strategica, the company that was to receive the commission.
The UDEF found a copy of this contract at the Petrer (Alicante) headquarters of the company Agropecuaria Lucena, managed by the friend of the former Prime Minister. The parties involved are the service provider, Idella, represented by Martínez Martínez; and the client, Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas S. A., represented by Julio Martínez Sola, who was then the vice president of the airline. Investigators highlight that only “what appears to be the signature” of Martínez Sola is observed, stamped on all the pages, and the Plus Ultra seal on the last page of the contract, “without the signature of Julio Martínez Martínez being present.” Sources close to the case assure that there is a copy signed by both. The newspaper El Mundo, however, has published a reproduction of the contract in which the businessman’s signature does appear.
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The agreed remuneration is 1% of the bailout, an amount to which VAT would be added, according to the information. The agents calculate that the total amount would rise to 641,300 euros. The duration of the contract extended until SEPI issued the favorable or unfavorable resolution on the granting of the aid and, if granted, until the formalization and effective execution of the financing. The UDEF highlights that this is not the only advisory contract that investigators have found between the corporate structure linked to Martínez Martínez and Plus Ultra, but that there are others covering “a longer time frame and involving significant amounts.”
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