Overview
- José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who began two days of National Court questioning on Wednesday, is formally under investigation for alleged influence peddling tied to the 2021 €53 million state rescue of airline Plus Ultra.
- Investigating judge José Luis Calama has told the court he suspects Zapatero led a 'stable and hierarchical' network that used opaque financial channels to move money and obtain bribes.
- Police seized jewellery and luxury watches worth about €1.3 million in a May search of Zapatero's office, and prosecutors have opened separate inquiries into possible tax fraud and smuggling linked to those items.
- Zapatero has denied any wrongdoing, said the jewellery was inherited or received as gifts, and has given the court a voluntary declaration about his assets while contesting the allegations.
- The case joins other graft probes of senior Socialist figures and could take months to reach trial because an investigating judge first gathers evidence and then may refer the matter to a trial court, a process that shapes political risks for Sánchez's government.