José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero would have used his private residence “for sensitive dealings and receipt of shipments.” This is evident from the case file, accessed by La Vanguardia, which investigates Zapatero as the alleged leader of “a network of influence peddling.” The judge of the National Court José Luis Calama has summoned the former Prime Minister to testify on June 2 to provide explanations about the alleged kickbacks that the network would have received for the bailout of the airline Plus Ultra, approved by the Council of Ministers in March 2021 for 53 million euros.
From a report by the Economic and Financial Crimes Unit of the Police (UDEF) included in that case file, it appears that the former president had a dual operation divided “between his office at 35 Ferraz Street and his private residence to maintain opacity.” The investigators point out “the existence of an operational command center, materialized in a physical office located on Ferraz Street from which the strategic directives issued by Zapatero were systematically channeled.”
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For the UDEF, that office “was not merely an administrative space, but from there it operated as a nucleus for issuing instructions that would be channeled through computer supports from the staff’s equipment at his disposal.” The Police indicate that the person who executed those instructions was Zapatero’s secretary, María Gertrudis Alcázar “through the email account prresidentezapatero@presidentezapatero.com.”
More to come
