The hidden face of the ‘Z’ pyramid

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has several faces. The first, that of the progressive politician committed to saying no to war and to social advances such as the Equality law, the right to abortion, or same-sex marriage. The second, that of a socialist Prime Minister who led a team without major scandals for seven years, but with the questionable management of the economic crisis that cost him the mandate. The third, that of a low-profile former head of government, with approaches to countries like Venezuela or China. And since last Tuesday: a fourth, that of the first former Spanish leader investigated for allegedly leading an “organized scheme” dedicated to enriching themselves in exchange for their influence in high places.

Read more Shoemaker blows up Sánchez’s plan

The judge of the National Court investigating him, José Luis Calama, clearly outlines the pyramid of the “structured network, with each participant assuming different functions.” Zapatero is at the top, followed by his friend and trusted man, Julio Martínez, with the help of businessman Manuel Aaron Fajardo, who were assisted by the former president’s secretary, Gertrudis Alcázar, Martínez’s administrative assistant, in charge of the “fictitious” invoicing, Cristóbal Cano, and the top executives of the company Plus Ultra, with whom they have been linked since 2021 to receive deferred payment of the alleged ‘kickback’ in exchange for getting the Government to give them 53 million euros through a financial bailout.

He is called Z. He performs “direction and control” functions, is the “decision-making and strategic core of the network.” He would have put his personal contacts and capacity with senior administration officials at the service of third parties interested in obtaining favorable decisions. His leadership is not manifested formally or publicly, but through his capacity for “direction, coordination, and supervision.” He avoids, as much as possible, the direct execution of the most compromising tasks. This is how the judge defines the former Prime Minister within the organization. Messages such as: “our buddy Zapatero behind it”; “Grupo Zapatero has had it since this morning. They were already on it (they say)”; “the gowair guys know everything we do, even that Zapa is our contact”; or “Zapatero will try to get us the permits without the Spanish embassy having to intervene,” are some of the messages analyzed by the judge to establish his role in the network.

In summary, his role in the investigated scheme would have been to influence the Government to rescue Plus Ultra, to collect half a million euros for it, to use his friend’s companies for these payments, to order the creation of a company in Dubai, or to collect from Venezuelan businessmen – even through his daughters’ company – in exchange for pulling strings in Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuelan Government. In total, it is suspected that around two million euros ended up in his pockets.

Julio Martínez is Zapatero’s friend, with whom he does sports in the Madrid Monte del Pardo and who hired his daughters’ company Whathefav to layout confidential reports prepared by his company Análisis Relevante, for which they were paid 240,000 euros. The judge defines him as the “main lieutenant and visible figure.” He is the one who assumes direct contact with clients, executes Zapatero’s instructions, and formally leads the corporate network to channel funds, both in Spain and in offshore territories. He was the visible face of the network: “I don’t talk to him directly, I talk to the lackey,” said the top executives of Plus Ultra about negotiations with Zapatero.

Martínez is the man closest to the former socialist leader, who, according to the judge, would have transferred half a million euros to him in four years. Now, both are under investigation. So far, Martínez has remained silent. Zapatero will appear before the judge on the 2nd, and from there it will be seen if anyone blows the whistle. As some messages found by the Police show, Martínez is part of the “Grupo Zapatero,” as is Manuel Aarón Fajardo, “another lieutenant” but in his case with Venezuela as the place of action. The investigated refer to him in their conversations as “ZP’s piece in Venezuela.” Son of a Spanish socialist senator. He would be the one facilitating contacts “at the highest institutional level” and who served as a vehicle for Plus Ultra to access the former president.

The instructor places María Gertrudis Alcázar, the former head of government’s secretary, and Cristóbal Cano, Julio Martínez’s right hand, at the third level. Both would have been responsible for providing formal and documentary coverage to the operation, coordinating the issuance of invoices and the concepts and amounts to be recorded. The investigation includes emails in which the first asks the second whether to issue one or several invoices for 20,000 euros, receiving “precise instructions” on amounts and descriptions in response. Two “essential” operational pieces of the network. This pattern repeats when new invoices must be issued, proposing to “go agreeing on concepts,” which for the judge confirms “the existence of a stable and repeated modus operandi.”

Alcázar played a key role in Zapatero becoming secretary general of the PSOE in July 2000. At Ferraz she was always ‘Gertru’: the secretary of Ludolfo Paramio, a historic organic intellectual of Felipe González’s executive, who in 1996 organized a course at the Jaime Vera School attended by Zapatero, then a young deputy from León, where José Andrés Torres Mora first took notice of him. Four years later, after Joaquín Almunia resigned as secretary general, Manolo Chaves led the managing committee that took over the party, with Gertru as secretary. Torres Mora remembered that young deputy who had caught his attention but didn’t have his phone number… and it was Gertru who found it. That was the seed that ended up materializing in Zapatero’s candidacy for secretary general, which he won against Pepe Bono. And Gertru thus became Zapatero’s secretary, first at Ferraz, from 2004 at Moncloa, and from 2011 in his office as former president, where she continued performing her duties when, last Tuesday, the Police arrived with a search warrant.

There at Ferraz, Calama places the “coordination center of the network.” That is why the instructor ordered the seizure of electronic devices, particularly her mobile phone or any mass storage device. The judge even authorized a body search to prevent these from being lost, altered, or destroyed as evidence. From the order made public this week, after the lifting of the secrecy of the case, it appears that she would have the role of a front figure to “avoid” a “direct link” between the former socialist leader and the illicit activity. However, the National Court judge states clearly that from the emails it can be inferred that, although the messages are formally sent by Gertru, Zapatero “would be aware of the financial operation carried out.”

Cano would have “a role equivalent” to Alcázar’s, but at Martínez’s behest: manager of the daily operation in the so-called “finance boutique,” aimed “at maximizing the effectiveness of dealings with public bodies.” For appearances, he acts as administration director. His name appears linked to Martínez’s companies. Three weeks before the official approval of the Plus Ultra bailout, Cano sent an email to Martínez with the subject “Copy of SEPI fee contract.” It included the agreement signed on January 19, 2021, between Idella Consulenza and the airline, at a rate of 1% of the bailout amount plus VAT. In another of the operations under the instructor’s scrutiny, related to the Hard Rock project in Tarragona, Cano requests, at Julio Martínez’s instruction, that the word “commission” be removed from a contract.

Read more The judicial calendar once again overshadows the entire political initiative of the Government

Julio Martínez Sola, top executive of the airline Plus Ultra, is one of the key pieces of the scheme. The investigation points out that he acted as a “bridge” to reach José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and get the former president to convince the Government of the need to rescue Plus Ultra.

He would also have participated in a financial operation that used shell companies, such as Análisis Relevante, Caletón Consultores, or Summer Wind, to divert funds and make payments under the guise of fictitious consultancy contracts. Judge José Luis Calama’s order states that Martínez Sola attended a meeting at the Ministry of Transport in July 2020 to try to expedite the Plus Ultra bailout.

The Plus Ultra financial director, Roberto Roselli, would also have been present at that Transport meeting, which included then Secretary of State Pedro Saura and his chief of staff, Francisco Ferrer. He denies it, but the judge believes this meeting was “key” to speeding up the airline’s bailout, which finally took place in March 2021 for an amount of 53 million.

Communications intercepted during the investigation show that Roselli was aware of the operation to influence government decisions, even referring to the intermediaries as part of a “financial boutique” through which payments or “kickbacks” would be channeled. Additionally, Roselli would have managed the “cosmetic” adjustment of Plus Ultra’s accounts and intervened to hide that the company had a debt with Social Security, which prevented it from being rescued according to European regulations.

Draft letters addressed to senior bank executives requesting financing were found on Roselli’s devices. Allegedly, these letters were drafted following direct instructions from Zapatero.

Data found on the devices of Rodolfo Reyes, a Plus Ultra shareholder, have also been very revealing. The U.S. agency Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) extracted data from Reyes’s mobile device and made the information available to the Spanish police.

There, conversations were found confirming the alleged involvement of Rodríguez Zapatero in the bailout process. After the aforementioned key meeting at the Ministry of Transport, Reyes responded by message: “Yes bro. Our buddy Zapatero behind it.”

Reyes is also linked to the operation to channel funds from the airline to the network’s environment under the guise of “fictitious” consultancy contracts. Thus, Reyes would have contracted with Análisis Relevante, the company of Zapatero’s friend, Julio Martínez Martínez. According to investigations, this company acted as a merely instrumental company to collect commissions from the bailout, pretending legality through nonexistent reports.

Read more Madrid says goodbye to its last hero: “We put an end to a wonderful era”