The State Attorney General's Office has decided to halt the proceedings opened against Pilar Rodríguez, former chief prosecutor of the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Madrid, and María Luisa Llop, currently at the National Court, both mentioned in conversations of investigated individuals in the 'Plus Ultra case'. The suspension will remain in effect until "a final judgment or order of dismissal has been issued, in relation to facts attributed to the prosecutors concerned".
The Public Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that the Regulations of the Public Prosecutor's Office "provide for the initiation of disciplinary proceedings" when the facts have led to criminal proceedings, but specifies that "no resolution will be issued until a final judgment or order of dismissal has been issued in the case".
Along the same lines, it is argued that "the declaration of proven facts contained in the resolution that terminates the criminal proceedings will be binding on the resolution issued in the disciplinary proceedings".
In parallel, the Fiscal Inspection has requested the chief prosecutor of Anticorruption, Alejandro Luzón, to "report and forward the judicial resolutions that are issued" in the case regarding the two affected prosecutors.
Origin of the proceedings and mentions in the Plus Ultra case
The former superior prosecutor of Madrid, Almudena Lastra, opened administrative proceedings in May against Rodríguez, now assigned to the Supreme Court, and Llop. She did so after learning of a report from the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) sent to the National Court judge José Luis Calama, who is investigating, among others, the former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for an alleged influence peddling scheme linked to the airline's bailout.
In that report, the UDEF points out that the alleged network attempted to influence the proceedings of Investigating Court Number 15 of Madrid regarding the public aid of 53 million euros approved by the Government in 2021. The agents record that the lawyer Miguel Palomero told the former executive of Plus Ultra Rodolfo Reyes that he would ask "what the judge of the 15 is like", Esperanza Collazos, and that "the chief prosecutor is a friend".
"We have to cut this off," said the lawyer, to which Reyes replied "absolutely," and urged him to contact "Julio" Martínez Sola, president of Plus Ultra: "And we cut it off." Then, Palomero appealed to "do a Kitchen Cabinet."