The Spanish judiciary expanded its investigation today into former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, adding suspicions of tax fraud and jewel smuggling to existing charges of influence peddling and money laundering. According to a ruling by the presiding judge, cited by Spanish media, the suspicions of tax fraud and smuggling are linked to jewelry discovered in a safe inside Zapatero’s office during a police search on May 19.
The jewels, whose origin is currently unjustified, have been valued at 1.3 million euros, the judge revealed, noting that possessing assets of this value without any fiscal record of purchase or ownership in asset or tax declarations serves as an objective and rational indication of potential significant tax fraud.
The judge added that a crime of smuggling could also be at play due to the presence of the 1.3 million euro jewelry collection in Spain without any proof of payment for commercial tariffs or special taxes associated with their import. The magistrate wrote in the ruling that these assets appear to have entered the customs territory of the European Union by evading mandatory controls and fiscal obligations.
Zapatero, who is scheduled to be questioned by the investigating judge on June 17 and 18 in Madrid, stated through close associates that the jewelry consisted of family inheritances and gifts, without providing further details.
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The former prime minister and ex-leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) is being investigated for crimes of influence peddling and other related offenses, including money laundering, Spain’s National Court revealed, in a case initially opened to investigate the 2021 bailout of the airline Plus Ultra.
According to the judicial summary, Zapatero is suspected of leading a stable and hierarchical influence-peddling structure aimed at obtaining economic benefits by exerting illicit influence on public bodies in favor of third parties, primarily Plus Ultra.
Investigators also suspect the use of shell companies and falsified documentation to exert this unlawful influence and launder money, specifically to hide the origin and destination of funds, including a company where Zapatero’s daughters serve as administrators and partners.
The 65-year-old Zapatero has maintained his innocence and promised full cooperation with the justice system. Plus Ultra, considered a small-scale airline with links to Venezuela, benefited from a 53 million euro financial bailout in 2021 granted as a loan by the Spanish government under Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who at the time had created a 10 billion euro fund to rescue strategic companies struggling due to COVID-19.
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The government has expressed tranquility and respect for the judiciary while emphasizing the fundamental principle of the presumption of innocence regarding Zapatero and the Plus Ultra bailout, underlining that the package received approval from both the European Union and the Court of Auditors.
Zapatero was one of Sánchez’s key supporters during the last Spanish general elections in July 2023, with the press even labeling him as the PSOE’s major electoral asset.
This judicial investigation adds to a series of other inquiries involving figures close to Sánchez, including a former minister, ex-PSOE officials, as well as the prime minister’s brother and wife, who are all facing accusations or investigations for corruption or influence peddling. In recent weeks, a separate judicial investigation was launched into former PSOE member Leire Diez, amid suspicions that a faction within the party attempted to interfere with police and prosecutorial inquiries.
“Full cooperation with justice, complete respect for the presumption of innocence of President Zapatero, and all my support for President Zapatero,” Sánchez stated when the case against the former prime minister first came to light.
