The ruling by Judge José Luis Calama, which underpins the investigation and charges against José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, includes a detailed account of the operation of a scheme that sought to obtain a public loan to save a small airline company by using political influences at the highest level. And apparently, in the end, it succeeds. It obtains two loans totaling 53 million euros. And Zapatero and his daughters earned huge incomes.
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A key element of the narrative about the scheme’s efforts around Plus Ultra that runs through the resolution prepared by the judge is that Zapatero moves through it like a ghost. He is named and invoked on multiple occasions, powers and influences are also attributed to him, and the echo of some of his steps even seems to be detected, but always in a vague way. In reality, apart from the not insignificant confirmation of his substantial income and that of his daughters, there are hardly any traces of his movements. Strictly speaking, there is a meeting with an executive from the Dubai free port where the creation of a company in that city of the United Arab Emirates was supposedly discussed, which the judge presumes, apparently still without documentation, would have diverted part of the payment for the influences exerted by the theoretical scheme in favor of Plus Ultra.
The pressure will focus on Julio, ‘Julito’ Martínez. Repentant and collaborator?
With which officials or politicians did he contact? A meeting with José Luis Escrivá, then Minister of Social Security, is mentioned, whose Treasury department certified that the companies had no unpaid debts, but who was not part of the bodies responsible for granting the loans. In any case, it can be assumed that Zapatero could have carried out many arrangements without needing to go to anyone’s office.
This is a ruling in which supposed behaviors of the former president that are yet to be proven are inferred. Calama considers the fact that Zapatero leaves no trace as an indication of his outstanding criminal skill and not the result of natural behavior. In the long investigation that is announced, and which will last several years, there is no doubt that proving the former president’s active involvement in these allegedly criminal acts will be key.
But, having said that, Judge Calama points out in his document that influence peddling involves the “existence of an influence exercised or simulated, aimed at obtaining a specific administrative resolution and a functional link between the influence and the intended economic benefit.” That is, according to Judge Calama, the crime exists by making the payer believe that the influence has been exercised, even if it has not.
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At this point, another key figure, Zapatero’s payer, Julio, Julito, Martínez Martínez, about whom profiles regarding his strength or weakness of character are already being shaped in Madrid, will be key. If difficulties persist in obtaining evidence of Zapatero’s supposed movements, judge and prosecutors could focus the pressure on him. Once again, the repentant would emerge as an essential protagonist, the master key. We will have to see. And if it is yes, whether it will be in a grotesque version, Aldama (Ábalos-Koldo case); or more useful and truthful, like Correa (PP Gürtel case) or Diego Torres (Urdangarin).
It is not always necessary to catch the alleged head of an influence peddling scheme red-handed. If Plus Ultra accessed a loan with a public guarantee that it should not have obtained, those who benefited from that illegality, those who received the alleged kickback, in this case supposedly Zapatero, who would have taken the lion’s share, could be convicted. Cui prodest, who benefits?
But what would happen if the granting of that loan is legal? That is, if it was granted in accordance with the law and no rules were violated in granting it? This is what SEPI and the ministry it belongs to, the Treasury, have maintained and maintain. And in their favor, they show, besides the internal documentation of the operation (reports, certificates, Deloitte audit analyses), the approvals of the Court of Auditors, the State General Intervention, the European Commission, and the Court of Justice of the EU. Many medals difficult to remove. But the legality of the loan does not eliminate the crime of influence peddling.
The judge, in his ruling, doubts its legality and refers to the Deloitte report and notes that it “raised doubts about the airline’s (Plus Ultra) ability to continue operating and warned of serious cash flow problems.” But, according to SEPI and the Treasury, confirming that the company was financially troubled and could not access bank credit was a condition to qualify for the Government’s financing plan. Although some argue that this plan was for strategic companies in temporary crisis, something that would not apply to Plus Ultra. The Treasury cannot recognize as irregular an operation approved by the Council of Ministers. It would be the end of the Government.
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