The magistrate of the Audiencia Nacional who is investigating the 'Plus Ultra case', José Luis Calama, has transferred the case to the Tax Agency so that it can be involved in the investigation opened by the jewels located in the office of former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, considering it "potentially harmed".
In a ruling to which Europa Press has had access, Calama states that "the nature" of the facts being analyzed could be "constitutive of a crime against public finance and a crime of smuggling", the same offenses for which Zapatero is being investigated in a separate piece within the same case.
The judge emphasizes that this point "reveals a patrimonial damage directly connected with state-owned income whose management corresponds" to the Tax Agency. On this basis, he considers the Treasury "as potentially harmed" and, consequently, recognizes its legitimacy "to exercise the criminal and civil actions that are appropriate".
Jewels valued at 1.3 million euros
The jewelry store Ansorena, to which Calama commissioned an appraisal report, valued the jewels seized by the National Police in a safe located in the former president's office at 1.3 million euros.
The magistrate ordered that the lot be examined in order to "determine its nature, authenticity and replacement economic value", as well as to identify the manufacturer, stamp or brand of the jeweler and an approximate date of manufacture, without prejudice to a subsequent expert valuation that includes "other analytical data of interest".
The commission was given to a jewelry store "after taking an oath or affirmation" and it was stipulated that the entire process be documented by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police, "with the expression of all the necessary requirements for compliance with the chain of custody".
According to the police report on the entry and search of the former head of the Executive's office, Zapatero's secretary, who attended the proceeding, stated that the origin of the jewels was in the family inheritance of Sonsoles Espinosa, wife of the former socialist leader, and in "gifts from trips".
In the same resolution, Calama dismisses the involvement of the company Softgestor "as there is no material connection between its procedural position and the facts examined, nor any risk of affecting its defense rights".