The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the Plus Ultra airline made “improper use” of the bailout of 53 million euros that the Government granted him during the pandemic because at least part of those funds were used to launder “illicit” money from Venezuela, according to the complaint filed by the Public Ministry. Anti-corruption promotes the case that is being followed by these events in a Madrid court and that led this Thursday to the detention of the president, co-founder and current owner of the company, Julio Martínez, and the CEO, Roberto Roselli.
The Prosecutor’s Office maintains that Plus Ultra appears as a “signatory and beneficiary” of some alleged loan contracts with three companies of an alleged criminal organization based in France, Switzerland and Spain and dedicated to laundering “illicit” money in those countries from acts of embezzlement committed by public officials in Venezuela “of very high amounts.” The complaint cites public funds from the Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP) and gold sales from the Bank of Venezuela. The organization is allegedly made up of several citizens of foreign origin (Venezuela, Peru and the Netherlands), as well as a Spanish lawyer.
The Anti-Corruption complaint is based on the information contained in letters rogatory received from France (Parquet National Financier) and Switzerland (Geneva Prosecutor’s Office). In one of them, the French authorities requested entry and searches in homes located in Madrid, Pozuelo and Tenerife, and in another from Switzerland, entry and searches were also requested in a home in Mallorca. These records were authorized by the National Court.
Anti-corruption filed a first complaint in the National Court about these events on October 21, 2024 against these six people. But the Investigating Court 2 rejected it, considering that the facts constituted a crime of money laundering not entirely committed abroad, so the special court was not competent. The Criminal Chamber confirmed this decision a year ago and established that jurisdiction corresponds to the ordinary court of the places where the events took place.
Sources from the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid confirm that the case is under secrecy and is being processed by the Court of Instruction 15 of Madrid. That same court investigated the rescue but ended up shelving the case in January 2023, considering that the commission of a crime did not appear “duly justified,” since the royal decree on urgent measures to support the economy and employment was correctly applied.
The court had opened proceedings in April 2022 against the former acting president of the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI) Bartolomé Lora and the board of directors of the organization, following a complaint from the Manos Liminas union for alleged embezzlement.
