Zapatero tells the judge that the jewels are a gift from the King of Saudi Arabia from 2007
The former president requests that cooperation be requested from the Saudi authorities so that they certify his version
Madrid / BarcelonaAfter having promised to provide explanations regarding the origin of the jewels from the moment they were found in his office on May 19th, former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero provided an official explanation this Wednesday through a document submitted to the National Court. In the document, which ARA has had access to, he states that the pieces are a gift that the King of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud—who died eleven years ago—gave him in June 2007, during his first term at the head of the Spanish government. It is a gift that the monarch delivered to the family residence located at the Moncloa Palace on the occasion of the trip made to Madrid, and he justifies the delivery as a "strictly personal attention, accepted out of deference and as a sign of gratitude and respect" toward the Saudi king.
Specifically, he refers to three sets of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets that make up "90%" of the total value of the jewels. He provides an inventory of these 12 pieces: in the document, he speaks of a ruby set, consisting of four pieces, all made with 18-karat white gold; an emerald set, consisting of four pieces also made of 18-karat white gold originating from Zambia; and a sapphire set, also of four pieces and 18-karat white gold.
To corroborate this version, the lawyer for the former Spanish Prime Minister reveals that the day before he testified as an under-investigation party before Judge Calama, on June 16th, he sent a letter addressed to the head of protocol of the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia, through the country's embassy in Madrid, to obtain confirmation of the facts." On August 12th, another letter was sent explaining that international judicial cooperation would be requested. In this regard, he asks Judge Calama to issue a letter rogatory to Saudi Arabia to verify the delivery of the jewels. "It is a perfectly defined verification proceeding that, if considered necessary, would allow for the definitive clarification of the only factual issue that gave rise to the separate piece regarding the origin of the jewels," the document states.
In any case, the document submitted by the defense adds, furthermore, that the pieces "were kept and remained stored throughout this time, together with those of family origin and other gifts from friends, without any use or destination, and without awareness of their material value". In fact, regarding the rest of the pieces —67— that were found in his safe, Zapatero maintains that they are from the family core and have no "relevance" because many have no value according to the same appraisal and others do not reach 1,000 euros.
With this Wednesday's explanations, Zapatero intends to "neutralize the indications that may currently arise from the investigation" and excuses himself for not having done so earlier "due to the time elapsed since the date of the gift". "Their confirmation has meant that an explanation could not be provided in a shorter timeframe", the document resolves.
Questions the value of 1.3 million euros
Until now, Zapatero had limited himself to saying that some of the jewelry were family heirlooms and that the others corresponded to "a courtesy gift from many years ago", but without specifying their origin. The former Spanish president, however, has presented this written statement today after Judge José Luis Calama commissioned a new gemological appraisal on Monday, this time from the Yanes jewelry store, and gave Zapatero three days to provide additional information about the pieces, which until now have been valued by the Ansorena jeweler at a value of 1.3 million euros. The former PSOE leader had asked for time to gather information on the origin of the jewelry —on the day he testified he assured he would do so in ten days—, but until now he had not clarified where he got them from. The only detail he gave in the only interview he has given to TVE is that it was a "courtesy gift" and he denied that they were valued at more than one million euros.
Regarding the valuation of the jewelry set, Zapatero's statement questions the 1.3 million figure given by the Ansorena jewelry store. The former socialist leader states that he "does not accept or adopt" this valuation, the amount of which is "undoubtedly much higher than the real value of the pieces".
His argument is that the calculation of the value of the pieces was made based on the price they would cost today, including taxes and what is usually attributed when taking out an insurance policy; and not the value they could have had in 2007, when they were gifted to him. "The estimate offered [...] does not determine or allow for establishing what the value of the pieces was nineteen years ago," Zapatero states in his document. In this way, the former president's lawyer also defends himself against the accusation weighing on him regarding the discovery of the jewelry: the judge, upon learning of their valuation, decided to open a separate case for smuggling and tax fraud.
Dutch investor under investigation sent to prison
The other piece of news that emerged this Wednesday regarding the case is the prison order that Judge Calama has decreed for Simon Verhoeven, the Dutch investor also under investigation who gave three loans to Plus Ultra before the airline received the bailout from the Spanish government. The search and arrest warrant had been in effect for seven months, and on August 21st, Verhoeven was arrested at Frankfurt am Main airport. Finally, he will arrive in Spain this Thursday by plane, under investigation for criminal organization, money laundering, influence peddling, and misappropriation.
According to the court order to which this newspaper has had access, the magistrate has summoned him for Friday at nine in the morning to testify, and to ensure he attends, he has decided to send him to Soto del Real as soon as he lands at Barajas. It is a decision taken on a “strictly precautionary and provisional” basis to “avoid any risk of flight in the time lapse” between his arrival in Spain and his appearance before the judge. That same day, he will have to decide whether to keep him in provisional prison.
In one of its reports, the UDEF detected “possible irregularities” in the transactions of the companies that Verhoeven used to provide loans to Plus Ultra. The question is whether the bailout money might have been used to launder the loans he provided.