Spanish judge orders probe into 57 accounts of former PM Zapatero, his daughters and secretary in Plus Ultra case

Widening the financial dragnet

National Court judge José Luis Calama authorised the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) on 29 July to request banking information on 57 products across more than ten lenders. The accounts belong to former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, his daughters Alba and Laura Rodríguez Espinosa, his secretary Gertrudis Alcázar, businessman Julio Martínez Martínez and 13 companies under scrutiny in the Plus Ultra case. The UDEF says access to the actual movements is essential to verify data already obtained through financial intelligence and tax filings, and to resolve remaining doubts about certain fund transfers and property purchases by the former leader and his aide.

An organised structure for illicit influence

In a judicial order seen by several outlets, Calama describes the investigation's core finding so far.

“The investigation has at its core an organized and stable structure, led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, oriented towards the exercise of illicit influences on behalf of certain clients — Plus Ultra, Inteligencia Prospectiva and Softgestor — who would remunerate such services through simulated consultancy contracts, allowing justification of payments whose real destination would be José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the company Whathefav, administered by his daughters.”

The magistrate labels the three firms as "sources of covert financing" for the network. Martínez, known as Julito, is no longer seen merely as a conduit of funds but as the former president's trusted person and the direct interlocutor with the organisation's clients.

Payments to the former prime minister

Police reports detail that between 2020 and 2025 Zapatero received €490,780 from Análisis Relevante, the consultancy at the centre of the inquiry. His accounts also logged 174 transfers totalling €2.6 million that agents link to fees for international conferences, mediation, strategic advice and academic activities. Among those, €200,000 paid by the Peruvian firm Foscul Social Research SAC are expressly under suspicion of involving "the alleged exercise of unlawful influence by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero before the Bolivian authorities on behalf of a Peruvian company."

The UDEF also highlights Zapatero's purchase of a Madrid home in February 2024 for €580,000 with a €500,000 mortgage. The loan was repaid just 11 months later with a single transfer of €498,000.

Secretary's mortgage-free flat

Gertrudis Alcázar acquired a property in Velilla de San Antonio (Madrid region) for €132,055 without a mortgage, paying by periodic bank transfers between March 2021 and June 2023. Investigators noted no other operations, inheritances, recent property sales or cash deposits, that could explain the financial capacity displayed.

“No other operations have been observed that would somehow offset this property transaction or provide cash income, such as inheritances or recent sales of other properties, that would justify the economic capacity shown.”

Agents consider Alcázar played a relevant role in the criminal organisation's operations, managing communications, exchanging documentation and controlling the agenda around the influence-peddling activities.

The Venezuelan sibling firms

Inteligencia Prospectiva, controlled by Venezuelan brothers Domingo Arnaldo Amaro Chacón and Guillermo Alfredo Amaro Chacón, moved more than €2.6 million through its accounts between 2020 and 2025. The National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) found the volume "totally incongruent with its declared activity" and consistent with channelling foreign funds into Spain. Análisis Relevante received €368,258.72 from the company, while Whathefav, the marketing firm of Zapatero's daughters, also obtained payments. The judge equates Inteligencia Prospectiva's role to that of Plus Ultra and Softgestor as a source of concealed income for the network.

Investigation safeguards

Calama instructed the UDEF to seek the information from each bank's central services, expressly forbidding any contact with the local branch concerned. He also ordered the opening of a separate case file to hold the banking records as they arrive. The probe sits within the wider Plus Ultra case, which examines alleged irregularities in the €53 million state rescue of the airline during the pandemic and the suspected kickbacks funnelled to Zapatero and his circle.