“Difficult times” can only be overcome with “the support of friends and good relationships.” That is what a Plus Ultra manager told Julio Martínez Martínez, the businessman from Alicante who would have served as the executive arm of the former president of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in . Thus it crowned a year of, supposedly, intense influence peddling for . The investigations, directed by the National Court and promoted by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, give a detailed account of the evolution of these relationships, in which the name of the former socialist leader appears on specific occasions, when the need was drowning, through the mouth of his self-proclaimed “team.”
The pandemic breaks out. The judicial investigation places the beginning 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, the former director of Plus Ultra Rodolfo Reyes contacted the lawyer Miguel Palomero. “We need to get to the aid (…) Let’s see what you can think of at the political level. Where to knock on doors,” he told him. “We touch (José Luis) Ábalos,” the lawyer proposed, in reference to the then Minister of Transportation.
March 30, 2020. Reyes also spoke to the president of the airline, Julio Martínez Sola, and the Venezuelan diplomat Ramón Gordils to explore other avenues of influence. “Do you think we can ask Zapatero for help?” he asked the latter, who responded: “Go along the formal route and I’ll look for how to get to Zapatero.” Martínez Sola also thought it was good. “As a friend says, we are going to fuck 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 has just been made with ZP.”
April 30, 2020. The former manager informed Gordils that the president of Plus Ultra had managed to speak for “11 minutes” with Zapatero.
May 4, 2020. Meanwhile, the alleged plot explored the Ábalos road. Palomero told Reyes that they had made an approach to Koldo García, “the minister’s right hand man.”
May 16, 2020. For the first time, the concept of “the team” arises, which according to what those involved themselves verbalize would be made up of “the friend” ―of whom they do not give any further details―; Manuel Fajardo, “Zapatero’s man in Venezuela”, and Martínez Martínez, the businessman friend of the former head of Government. In those days, the financial director of Plus Ultra, Roberto Roselli, explained to Reyes that he was not speaking 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 alleged bribes.
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 in obtaining an ICO loan. A day later, Reyes asked Roselli how “Zapatero’s efforts” with the bank were going. They’re moving, he assured her. Financial sources clarify to EL PAÍS that this request never materialized.
July 3, 2020. The Solvency Support Fund for Strategic Companies (FASEE) affected by the pandemic was created. Days later, on July 7, Reyes explained to Palomero the need to “get to Ábalos.” After this, the investigations reveal that on the 22nd of that month there was a meeting between Plus Ultra directors and the then Secretary of State for Transport, Pedro Saura, which those responsible for the airline attributed to the good offices of Zapatero. “Yes, bro. Our friend Zapatero, behind,” wrote Reyes.
July 30, 2020. 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 would have tried another route. Roselli indicated that “Zapatero’s team” had to move the file to the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI), which was the one that granted the public aid, to which Reyes added that, if they achieved it, they would give Indra the 44,000 euros offered for four weeks to “review and complete” the viability plan for Plus Ultra and would also sign a lifetime contract with the Spanish company. The airline’s managers quickly ruled out this option due to the lack of movement.
September 1, 2020. Plus Ultra formally presented its ransom request to SEPI.
September 7, 2020. Zapatero met with the then Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, according to the messages intercepted in the Koldo case.
September 16, 2020. The managers of Plus Ultra began to get nervous because their file was “very stagnant” in the SEPI due to lack of personnel. Roselli told Reyes that it could be a good time for “Zapatero to talk to someone at the SEPI.” In those days, Martínez Sola spoke of demanding guarantees from the former president or his “team” that the aid would be granted “with 100% security.” “We need that push,” Reyes confirmed.
September 30, 2020. Roselli told Reyes that Martínez Martínez would speak with the SEPI. The former manager 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 begun. The alleged plot was attributed to “a letter whose details are unknown,” according to the document.
November 5, 2020. A payment of 6,050 euros was made to Relevant Analysis.
December 17, 2020. After several requests for information from the SEPI, the directors of Plus Ultra agreed to send some documents that were “make-up.” Shortly after, they sent the documents.
January 19, 2021. Plus Ultra signed with Idella Consulenza Strategica, another company controlled by Martínez Martínez, a consulting contract for 1% of the SEPI rescue: 530,000 euros plus VAT. This is the same company that is behind (United Arab Emirates). The judge suspects that those investigated tried to divert the commission of the aforementioned rescue abroad.
February 6, 2021. Reyes asked Martínez Sola to organize a meal with Venezuelan businessman Camilo Ibrahim Issa and Martínez Martínez. “Camilo was with ZP today. He told him that everything is going smoothly.” “I knew it,” responded the president of Plus Ultra.
February 26, 2021. Martínez Martínez sent a message to Issa informing her that Plus Ultra had obtained the long-awaited rescue. The official meeting of the SEPI did not take place until March 2 and public aid was not granted until the 9th of that month. However, the alleged plot already knew this. “Without a doubt, thank you very much for your support. Difficult times that can only be overcome with the support of friends and good relationships,” Reyes celebrated in a message to the Alicante businessman.
March 9, 2021. The directors of Plus Ultra and Martínez Martínez celebrated the success with a meal on a terrace in Madrid. “The SEPI does not approve these expenses,” Zapatero’s friend joked. “Don’t worry, that comes from 1%,” Roselli reacted. The ransom was 53 million euros.
April 15, 2021. Martínez Solá told Reyes that his namesake had called him very angry to tell him that “his boss” was also angry about an interview that Roselli had given in the press about the rescue of Plus Ultra. A day before, the financial director himself contacted Martínez Martínez to lament that he had “abandoned” him.
