Former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero denied orchestrating an influence-peddling scheme tied to a $61.5 million airline bailout, testifying on June 17 as investigators pursue an asset hunt that now reaches his cryptocurrency.
The judge placed Zapatero at the “apex” of an organized network. He told the court that payments flagged by investigators were legitimate consulting fees and design work for his daughters’ agency.
Zapatero Denies the Plus Ultra Bailout Scheme
During a three-hour hearing at Madrid’s Audiencia Nacional, Zapatero faced four charges spanning influence peddling, money laundering, tax fraud, and smuggling.
He answered only the judge and his own lawyer.
He denied any contact with government officials or airline executives over the rescue.
According to legal sources, he said he did not meet Plus Ultra’s current president until 2024, three years after the bailout was approved.
The probe centers on the 2021 rescue of Plus Ultra, an airline with ties to Venezuelan businessmen, which drew $61.5 million through state holding company SEPI.
The judge says Zapatero ordered an offshore company set up in Dubai to manage funds, registered eight days after the cabinet approved the aid, according to infoLibre.
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Inside the Zapatero Crypto Seizure Order
Investigating Judge José Luis Calama signed a seizure order on May 18, directing Spain’s economic crime police to track and seize any Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) tied to Zapatero.
The measure joins frozen bank accounts and the offshore company checks.
Any recovered tokens would move to Prosegur’s high-security crypto bunker in Madrid, which stores keys offline under a contract for judicial crypto seizures.
Calama has prosecuted Spain’s largest crypto frauds, including the Madeira Invest fraud that snared more than 3,000 people.
Spain has tightened crypto oversight under new EU money laundering rules.
Its courts have reached for blockchain tools before, from a major crypto scam last year to Spain’s seized Bitcoin holdings sold after more than a decade.
Zapatero offered the court a “voluntary universal authorization” to verify his assets and said he holds nothing abroad.
“I have absolutely nothing outside of Spain,” read an excerpt in the report, citing Zapatero.
The instruction phase continues, and Calama has not confirmed whether tracing has located any wallets.
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