Madrid’s investigating court number 13 on Saturday accepted the release, with precautionary measures, of three Plus Ultra detainees, including the airline’s president, Julio Martínez, and its CEO, Roberto Roselli.
This was confirmed to Europa Press by judicial sources, who indicated that the decision was taken by Judge Alfredo Barrera because he was on duty, although the investigation is in the hands of the investigating court number 15 and continues under the seal of secrecy.
The magistrate agreed that the three men take away their passports, prohibit them from leaving Spain and force them to appear in court every two weeks.
The three detainees were brought to court this Saturday after having been detained all this week by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police.
Judge Esperanza Collazos is investigating a complaint from the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office that highlights both the “inappropriate use” of the 53 million euros the government granted as a pandemic bailout and the alleged laundering of public funds and Venezuelan gold in several countries.
This is a complaint that the National Court refused to admit last year due to its incompetence and considering that the competent court would be the Court of Instruction No. 15 of Madrid, because it was the one that investigated the rescue of the airline.
Judicial sources told this news agency that the Plaza de Castilla Court is investigating the events reported by Anticorruption, but not only that.
The prosecution denounced the “inappropriate use” of the 53 million euros received by Plus Ultra thanks to a grant from the Council of Ministers in March 2021, ensuring that this money “would have been used to repay loans granted to this company by others as part of the alleged criminal conspiracy”.
Filed against several people for an alleged offense of money laundering, the complaint targeted an alleged criminal organization based in France, Switzerland and Spain.
It would be made up – he explained – “of foreign people, Spanish nationals and at least one Spanish lawyer”, and it would be “dedicated to carrying out acts of money laundering in the three aforementioned countries”.
According to the prosecution, the illicit funds come from acts of embezzlement committed by public agents of Venezuela of “very high amounts”, notably “public funds from CLAP programs”, promoted by the government to distribute subsidized basic foods, and “gold sales from the Bank of Venezuela”.
It turns out that it was this same court that agreed in January 2023 to file the case in which it investigated the alleged irregularities in the public concession to Plus Ultra of 53 million euros during the pandemic.
The judge emphasized when filing the case that the rescue of the airline was approved by the Council of Ministers, so the defendants “lacked decision-making capacity”, after the Madrid court ruled in favor of the airline and established that it was not possible to accept the educated statement of its legal representative because they had “exhausted the 12-month period provided” for the development of the investigation.
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