The UDEF points to the circle of Zapatero as key pieces of the Plus Ultra case: the secretary ‘Gertru’ and the friend ‘Julito’

The report from the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) on the alleged plot linked to the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra points directly to the closest circle of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. According to the police investigation, both his secretary, María Gertrudis Alcázar —known as ‘Gertru’— and the businessman Julio Martínez, 'Julito', would have played key roles within the alleged operation investigated by the Audiencia Nacional.

The Police maintain that 'Julito', a personal friend of the former president and founder of the company Análisis Relevante, would have allegedly acted as an intermediary between Zapatero and various members of the investigated clientelistic network. According to the UDEF, numerous intercepted messages constantly refer to the “president”, a denomination that agents directly attribute to the former socialist leader.

According to the police report, some interlocutors addressed Martínez using expressions such as “Good morning President” or conveying alleged responses under formulas such as “Z's Answer”, which, according to investigators, would evidence that the businessman channeled communications allegedly linked to Zapatero. The UDEF considers that there is a “repeated pattern” in this type of message.

The police document also focuses on the role of 'Gertru', the former president's trusted secretary for years. According to the investigation, she would have allegedly participated in the administrative and documentary management of certain economic operations under suspicion. The agents maintain that part of this activity was carried out from an office located on Ferraz street in Madrid.

Among the emails analyzed by the Police, according to the UDEF, there is an exchange in which Alcázar consults about the issuance of an invoice for 20,000 euros and even raises the possibility of splitting it into several different invoices, in addition to asking for instructions on the concepts that should be included. For the investigators, these messages would reflect an alleged “prior agreement” aimed at giving a formal appearance to operations that might not correspond to real services.

The UDEF concludes that there would be an alleged billing operation “disconnected from economic reality” and maintains that Zapatero would have been aware of these movements, although many of the actions were executed by people in his circle. However, the former president has publicly denied any involvement in irregularities related to the Plus Ultra case and defends the legality of all his actions.