Zapatero tries to have the Court annul another influence peddling case investigated by the UDEF

Former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has requested the National Court to exclude from the judicial procedure a police report against him with a new lead on another possible influence peddling in favor of the Peruvian company Gloria, which allegedly paid the socialist 200,000 euros through the company Focus Social Research.

Read more The Mossos save the wedding of an American couple after the theft of the dress, the suit, and the rings

In an appeal, his defense has requested to exclude from the procedure a report delivered by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the Police to the judge of the National Court José Luis Calama. It argues that it is “a general investigation about Rodríguez Zapatero not authorized judicially, violating his right to privacy” and that it “consolidates a prospective inquiry into one of his many professional activities.”

For the UDEF, the facts analyzed in the report support the indications of the existence of a criminal organization, led by the former secretary general of the PSOE, who “taking advantage of his contacts and international public influence” would have engaged in illicit influence peddling for the benefit of various clients.

The UDEF detected the payments from Focus and argues that these are unrelated to Focus, “a company whose corporate purpose would be oriented to marketing and which would have been used as a front company,” the agents point out.

Read more The Israeli Minister of Culture threatens to revoke the citizenship of the filmmakers of the documentary ‘NAZA’

The people behind these payments, according to the UDEF, would be part of the Peruvian-origin business conglomerate called Grupo Gloria. “The intended objective was to try to mediate or influence in favor of this business group, in several multimillion-dollar litigations maintained with the Bolivian Public Administration,” it emphasizes.

Zapatero denies it and argues that the UDEF could not analyze those payments. “It is evident that the transfer from Focus Social is outside the scope of the alleged influence peddling network whose existence the UDEF sponsors.” In his view, this income received “is unrelated to the organization that the UDEF attributes to Rodríguez Zapatero with Julio Martínez Martínez.”

And he warns: “there is no room for an investigative measure ‘to discover crimes in general,’ nor an indiscriminate asset sweep.”

Read more The truth and lies about Islam in Europe