Former Spanish PM Zapatero investigated as alleged leader of influence-peddling ring
Police searched Zapatero’s office as investigators examine alleged commissions and influence peddling tied to a €53 million bailout, court records show.
- Spain's National Court placed former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero under investigation on Tuesday for alleged influence peddling tied to a 2021 airline bailout, with police searching his office and summoning him to testify June 2.
- In March 2021, the Venezuela-linked airline Plus Ultra received €53 million from a government COVID-19 recovery fund, the transaction now at the center of the judicial probe.
- Zapatero, who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2011, denied any wrongdoing during a Senate hearing in March, stating he "never received any commissions from Plus Ultra."
- Opposition People's Party official Miguel Tellado demanded urgent explanations from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, saying "We are not only talking about the former Prime Minister, but also about Sánchez's main adviser."
- This marks the first formal investigation into a former Spanish prime minister since 1975, occurring as Sánchez's government faces intense political pressure from other ongoing corruption scandals.
173 Articles
173 Articles
DECRYPTAGE - The notification of the indictment of the former leader of the Socialist Party has had the effect of a thunderbolt in Spain, and could have political consequences to come.
Another blow for the socialists: the former prime minister could end up in the bar for traffic of influence
Former Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero is under investigation
A Spanish court is investigating former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for alleged influence peddling and other possible crimes tied to a government airline bailout.(Image credit: Juan Karita)
Another Spanish Socialist Charged With Money Laundering and Influence Peddling – Former Prime Minister and Key Sánchez Ally, Zapatero Has His Offices Raided by Police
Zapatero is another Spanish Socialist falling in disgrace – Wiki Commons Socialists in Spain are floundering. Still reeling from the successive electoral defeats, embattled Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his Socialist party have another problem to deal with: his key ally (and former Prime Minister) José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been raided by the police and charged with money laundering, influence peddling and other criminal offense…
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, former president of the government of Spain, is the first president formally accused of trading in influence in a plot related to the rescue of an airline used by the dictatorship of Venezuela for the alleged money laundering. The National High Court cites Rodriguez Zapatero to declare for the Plus Ultra case The National High Court revealed the accusation and summoned the ex-mandator emanating from the Spanish Soci…
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