From Switzerland and France to the National Court: the domino effect of the Zapatero case

MadridOn February 23, 2026, a judge from Madrid sent the case that led to the impeachment of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to the National Court. The case had resurfaced after France and Switzerland sent information about an ongoing investigation in which Plus Ultra appeared as a "client" of a criminal organization dedicated to money laundering. The magistrate pointed out that Rodolfo Reyes – majority shareholder of the airline and in the crosshairs of the United States– and other airline executives allegedly orchestrated a plan since 2020 to "appropriate clean money from public subsidies." As the alleged crimes were reportedly committed outside of Spain, the National Court is competent to investigate them, which is why José Luis Calama is now leading the investigation.

José Luis Calama is now leading the investigation.

The French and Swiss investigators warned that it was an organization with connections to Venezuela that had allegedly diverted funds to Europe illegally. The money came from the public food programs of Nicolás Maduro's government, the so-called Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP), but also from the sale of gold by the Bank of Venezuela to a company in the United Arab Emirates through Swiss accounts. In particular, France and Switzerland were scrutinizing three individuals who allegedly lent money to the airline.

Simon Leendert Verhoeven

The first is the Dutch-born investor Simon Leendert Verhoeven. He provided loans to Plus Ultra through three companies –Wailea Investment, Allpa Wira Trading UK, and Valerian Corporation– before the airline was saved, and which were subsequently reimbursed. The crux of the matter is whether the loans that this investor –and other individuals– provided to Plus Ultra were truly credits and whether the money from the Spanish government's bailout would have served to launder them. "Reasonable indications are established that point to possible irregularities in the activities and supporting documents of the transactions of the companies used by Verhoeven to provide loans to Plus Ultra," concludes the UDEF report, to which ARA has had access.

It adds that, at the same time, there were "connections" between Rodolfo Reyes and the money laundering services that "the criminal organization offers." Rodolfo Reyes is one of the Venezuelan directors of Plus Ultra through Snip Aviation, the company that holds half of the airline's share capital. He has always been associated with the administration of Nicolás Maduro and the then vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, and is the person whose mobile phone was intercepted by the United States, the content of which has been key to indicting Zapatero. On his device, the North American authorities found conversations in which the plot discussed their contact with the former Spanish president to secure the bailout of Plus Ultra by the Council of Ministers. According to the Spanish police, Verhoeven had significant investments in Spain, especially in real estate. Notably, for example, a property in Palma that was searched in October.

Danilo Diazgranados and Felipe Baca

The second name is Danilo Diazgranados, a businessman close to Hugo Chávez. The UDEF reviews a chat on Signal from 2022 in which he was talking with the Peruvian Felipe Baca about a money laundering operation. There was a potential client in Venezuela who had a large amount of cash because some works had been paid to him. And he didn't know what to do with it. The UDEF states that they offered him "different solutions" to launder it: through an account with a broker or through a commercial transaction. To refine it, there would have been meetings at the Hotel Mandarín in Madrid and at La Dorada, a restaurant in Pozuelo de Alarcón. Both ended the conversation joking about the "exorbitant amounts" –in the words of the UDEF– they would charge.

This conversation points to a presumed operation to launder money on a large scale. But... what is the connection with Zapatero? In the summary, in a chat from October 2024, Diazgranados admitted that he had a "personal and economic relationship" with someone called "Zorro", "Z" or "ZZZZ". The magistrate who initiated the case and later forwarded it to the National Court identifies him as José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. In her opinion, the chat reveals "concrete acts over several years" by a "hierarchical organization with a vocation for permanence". The "influence" of the former Spanish president with Repsol's top executives is also noted so that Diazgranados would obtain the distribution of lubricants in December 2023. Now, however, we have to see how Judge Calama assesses it.