Calama rejects new embezzlement line in Zapatero case

On Friday, Audiencia Nacional judge José Luis Calama rejected a bid to add alleged embezzlement to the case against former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Anti-corruption prosecutors had made the request.

In a separate order, Calama halted Tax Agency checks on Zapatero, his wife and daughters, a businessman and linked firms. Tax offices in Madrid and Valencia had asked the court to pause their work.

Why Calama rejected the request

Police found more than 60 pieces of jewellery in a safe in Zapatero’s office during a search in May. Two expert reports gave separate values of €1.3 million and €1.02 million.

Zapatero is already under investigation for alleged tax and smuggling offences. He says Saudi king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud gave him the jewellery as a personal gift in 2007, during an official visit to Spain.

Prosecutors said that account could point to another offence. If the gift was tied to Zapatero’s public role, they argued, it should have gone to State Patrimony. They asked Calama to examine whether the failure to hand it over could amount to embezzlement.

The judge rejected that view. He said the 2005 Good Governance Code was an ethical guide with no clear force in criminal law. A later law, passed in 2013, set an express rule for gifts to senior officials. It says institutional gifts become public assets.

Calama said applying that later rule to the 2007 gift would stretch criminal law too far. It would also make the alleged offence hard to foresee. He said the facts may draw ethical or political criticism, but that alone does not make the jewellery public property.

Tax checks put on hold

The Tax Agency said it could not finish its checks without papers or the result of the criminal case. The people under review had declined to hand over records linked to that case, acting through one lawyer.

Calama had earlier refused to stop the tax work because his case did not then cover tax offences. He said the new order was not a clash with that ruling. The position had changed after a fresh request from the Tax Agency.

The judge said his inquiry now covers facts that may affect tax bills. These include the use of firms, the flow of money through third parties and possible front companies. Running both tracks at once had caused a practical conflict, he said.

The wider case also looks at claims that Zapatero led an influence network which sought profit from work linked to the €53 million Plus Ultra rescue. Those claims remain allegations, and the inquiry is still open.

Sources: Europa Press, infoLibre and ABC.