In Barcelona, a National Police economic and fiscal crime unit has criticised SEPI, the state industrial holding company, for providing incomplete documentation in the investigation into the €53 million rescue of airline Plus Ultra. The unit, UDEF, said the material handed over was incomplete and had deficiencies that prevented proper analysis, which led the judge to ask for information a second time.
According to the report, accessed by ARA, some folders were empty, some files could not be opened, and the emails supplied were dated 2025, four years after the rescue. The report says those emails “exist or have existed” and points to a clear flow of communication. José Ángel Partearroyo, SEPI’s Director of Participated IV, was named in six conversations with Roberto Roselli, Plus Ultra’s CEO and CFO, during the processing of the rescue.
Partearroyo reportedly told Roselli that the rescue was ready, pending formal approval from the Council of Ministers, and asked for “no press, please”. Plus Ultra executives later celebrated the news with a seafood meal, saying, “Don’t worry, this comes out of the 1%”. When SEPI replied to the second judicial request, it said the new information was equivalent to the original, with only extra data on financing follow-up. UDEF, however, said there were fewer files and folders than before, and the reason for the reduction was unknown.
The report also says documents mentioned in a Deloitte report, which advised SEPI on the rescue, were missing. These included a certificate showing that Plus Ultra was up to date with Social Security debts, and an aircraft lease agreement from November 2019. One condition for receiving public rescue funds during the pandemic was that companies had no Social Security debts as of 31 December 2019.
Plus Ultra submitted two certificates in August 2020 confirming that position, but after a judge asked for clarification, the General Treasury of Social Security said the company did have an outstanding debt at the time, although the amount was not specified. Deloitte’s technical report from February 2021 also said Plus Ultra had provided an October 2020 resolution for the deferral of a pre-existing debt of €452,000. That came a month after a meeting between former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and then minister José Luis Escrivá, now governor of the Bank of Spain. The Popular Party has since summoned Escrivá to the Senate.
UDEF also said Plus Ultra gave false data to SEPI to hide the true identity of a beneficiary of an outstanding debt, in what it described as an effort to facilitate the rescue. The payment in question was €40,000 to Raif El Arigie Harbie, a Plus Ultra board member. In a conversation on 2 March 2021, lawyer Santiago Fernández Lena suggested Harbie collect the payment through a company because of fears it could create “some contingency” with SEPI. Roselli proposed routing it through Aerovip, which UDEF describes as a close collaborator of Plus Ultra.
Another conversation cited by the report, from December 2020, involved Rodolfo Reyes, Plus Ultra’s owner and majority shareholder, and Roselli. They discussed loans from Panacorp, a Panamanian company. Roselli sent an audio message saying, “We are drafting some documents. I will send them to Alcides [Alcides José Carrión, signatory of the loan contracts], I’ll copy you. But well, you know, a little more make-up on that”. UDEF says this was part of deceptive manoeuvres aimed at creating a false picture for SEPI. The report also refers to a March 2021 conversation in which Julio Martínez Sola announced an unofficial board meeting so SEPI would not be informed, saying, “Thursday morning, board. But not official, as we would have to notify SEPI.”
The findings form part of the ongoing Plus Ultra rescue investigation, which has already led the judge to name José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as a suspect. Further legal steps and possible testimony, including from José Luis Escrivá, are expected to add more detail to the case. For related coverage, see our news tag.
