Judge José Luis Calama of Spain’s National Court, who presides over the Plus Ultra case, has consented to summon Alba and Laura Rodríguez Espinosa, daughters of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to appear as investigated individuals, and this ruling also extends to Gertrudis Alcázar, Zapatero’s secretary, who will be required to testify under the same procedural designation.
The move follows a request by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office for the three women to be questioned as suspects. According to Vozpópuli, the judge is expected to set the dates for their appearances in a forthcoming ruling.
In the case of Alba and Laura Rodríguez Espinosa, the court’s decision is linked to their role as formal administrators of Whathefav SL, a communications and marketing agency that has come under scrutiny within the investigation. The judge considers that their position within the company makes it necessary for them to appear with the procedural guarantees granted to investigated persons.
The magistrate contends that the company is linked to transactions pertinent to the case, and that its administrators should therefore give testimony under a legal framework that safeguards their constitutional rights; he believes that calling them solely as witnesses would be unsuitable, since it would compel them to speak truthfully and might jeopardize their protection against self-incrimination.
The investigation is examining several financial movements involving Whathefav and other companies linked to the Plus Ultra case. According to the proceedings, Inteligencia Prospectiva allegedly transferred 368,258.72 euros to Análisis Relevante, a company associated with Julio Martínez, a friend of Zapatero, and another 561,440 euros to the firm managed by the former prime minister’s daughters.
Investigators also point to payments allegedly made by Análisis Relevante, a company said to have been financed by Plus Ultra. These include 490,780 euros to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and 239,755 euros to Whathefav. Particular attention has been placed on invoices issued under the general concept of agency services, without a detailed description of the specific work carried out.
According to the judicial line of inquiry cited by the outlet, those payments may have been linked to layout and formatting work on reports that had already been prepared. For the judge, the lack of clarity regarding the actual services provided could suggest a mismatch between the declared activity and the real purpose of the transactions, potentially pointing to a formal cover role.
Zapatero’s testimony before the National Court, held on Wednesday, did not dispel the concerns of the investigating judge. The former prime minister denied any involvement in the alleged collection of commissions connected to the rescue of Plus Ultra, the airline that received 53 million euros in public aid during the pandemic. He also defended Whathefav as a lawful and active company with various clients.
Regarding Gertrudis Alcázar, the judge likewise considers that there is enough basis to call her in as a subject under investigation, as earlier decisions had already portrayed her as a significant operational presence within the supposed network, performing tasks from Zapatero’s office in Ferraz and routinely accessing the former prime minister’s email account.
The analysis of seized emails attributes to Alcázar, together with Cristóbal Cano, coordination and document-preparation tasks related to the so-called Finance Boutique. According to the investigating judge, that documentation may have served to give formal appearance to payments received and issued by the corporate structure under investigation.
Source: Vozpópuli — https://www.vozpopuli.com/tribunales/la-audiencia-nacional-acuerda-investigar-a-las-hijas-de-zapatero-y-a-su-secretaria.html
