Judge José Luis Calama of Spain’s National Court, who is overseeing the Plus Ultra case, has agreed to summon Alba and Laura Rodríguez Espinosa, daughters of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, as investigated parties. The decision also affects Gertrudis Alcázar, Zapatero’s secretary, who will likewise be called to testify under the same procedural status.
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 argues that the company is connected to transactions relevant to the proceedings and that its administrators should therefore testify under a legal status that protects their constitutional rights. In his view, summoning them merely as witnesses would be inappropriate, as that would oblige them to tell the truth and could compromise their right not to incriminate themselves.
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 highlight payments reportedly issued by Análisis Relevante, a company said to have been funded by Plus Ultra, including 490,780 euros to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and 239,755 euros to Whathefav. They have focused closely on invoices submitted under the broad category of agency services, which lack detailed explanations of the specific tasks performed.
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.
An examination of the seized emails assigns to Alcázar, alongside Cristóbal Cano, responsibilities involving coordination and the drafting of materials connected to the so-called Finance Boutique, and the investigating judge indicates that this documentation might have been employed to give a formal veneer to payments received and issued by the corporate structure under investigation.
Source: Courtesy of Vozpópuli — https://www.vozpopuli.com/tribunales/la-audiencia-nacional-acuerda-investigar-a-las-hijas-de-zapatero-y-a-su-secretaria.html
