The judicial investigation into the rescue of Plus Ultra has extended its inquiries to the cash seized during several searches, an investment account in Miami, and various luxury goods. Among the located assets are 653,874 dollars blocked in the United States, more than 457,000 euros in cash, and the jewelry found in the office of former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, initially valued at 1.3 million euros.
Part of the cash was seized at the homes of two investigated individuals, while the money from Miami is deposited in the name of a company established in the British Virgin Islands and remains blocked by the U.S. financial institution. These would be funds and objects seized, immobilized, or subjected to investigation within a case that remains open in the National Court and in which the presumption of innocence of all affected must be respected.
The Miami bank blocked 653,874 dollars
The international lead leads to an account opened in Miami in the name of Landside Holdings Limited, a company based in the British Virgin Islands and linked to businessman Julio Martínez Martínez.
The documentation found by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit of the National Police (UDEF) on Martínez's computer reflects that the company had an investment portfolio managed by a U.S. broker. The balance reported to the court amounts to 653,874 dollars, about 564,000 euros at the exchange rate used in the information regarding the case.
The account was opened in 2014 and was with Mora WM Securities, an entity that later began operating as Boreal Capital Management. The bank reported in December 2025 the blocking of the funds after becoming aware of the investigation being conducted in Spain.
Julio Martínez's defense argues that the money belongs to Landside Holdings, that its origin is not related to the rescue of Plus Ultra, and that the company existed several years before the investigated events. The UDEF, for its part, is trying to reconstruct the origin of the funds, their movements, and the relationship of this structure with other companies controlled by the businessman.
A company in the Virgin Islands linked to international operations
Landside Holdings appears in documents related to an operation on behalf of the Economic and Social Development Bank of Venezuela before the Emirati firm Noor Capital. The agreement contemplated fees equivalent to 8.75% of the funds obtained during the negotiation.
The UDEF considers that the corporate structure of Julio Martínez could have been used to channel funds abroad. This is, for now, a hypothesis of the investigators that will need to be contrasted through banking analysis and international judicial cooperation.
More than 457,000 euros seized in cash
The Police found significant amounts of cash during the searches carried out on December 11, 2025. In the chalet in Alcobendas occupied by the then president of Plus Ultra, Julio Martínez Sola, the agents seized 107,000 euros and 75,175 dollars, equivalent at that time to about 64,000 euros.
The total located at this residence was therefore around 171,000 euros. The bills were found distributed in different places in the house, according to the police records incorporated into the procedure. In the home of Julio Martínez Martínez, another 286,070 euros in cash were found. The money was spread between a travel bag, a sports backpack, a golf bag, boxes, a radiator, and several envelopes with Chinese characters.
The exact sum of these two interventions amounts to 457,070 euros. However, other sources raise the overall cash balance to approximately 490,000 euros by incorporating other amounts located during the investigation, but the two main documented searches represent the largest part of the seized cash.
The jewels from Zapatero's office, valued at 1.3 million
The UDEF found on May 19 in a safe in the office of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, located on Ferraz Street in Madrid, 16 lots of jewelry and watches. Among the pieces were necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings made with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires.
The appraisal commissioned by Judge José Luis Calama to the jewelry store Ansorena, with the collaboration of the Spanish Gemological Institute, calculated a replacement value of 1,323,915 euros. The most valuable piece is a white gold necklace with diamonds and two emeralds from Zambia, valued at 278,000 euros.
The secretary of the former president stated during the search that part of the jewelry came from a family inheritance and another part corresponded to gifts received during trips. Zapatero later explained that it was a "personal courtesy gift" received years ago and denied that there was any intention to enrich himself or commit fraud.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has requested an additional report to determine the current market value and the approximate date when the pieces were set. This last verification could be relevant to determine when the delivery took place and if any possible tax or customs responsibilities would be time-barred.
The valuation of 1.3 million is not yet definitive. It corresponds to the replacement value of the materials and does not necessarily include the manufacturing work or commercial margins. The defense of the former president may also provide a contradictory appraisal.
The operations with watches under investigation
The case also includes luxury goods located in the home of the Dutch financier Simon Verhoeven in Mallorca. During the search, eleven watches, several pieces of jewelry, two gold bars, and computer devices were seized.
The Prosecutor's Office is investigating operations for more than 240,000 euros related to luxury watches and with companies linked to Verhoeven. Investigators are analyzing whether the buying and selling could have been used to introduce money of illicit origin into the financial circuit.
This figure corresponds to the operations examined and should not be confused with the appraisal of the jewelry found in Zapatero's office nor with the funds blocked in Miami.