The former prime minister was already under investigastion over an alleged influence-peddling and money-laundering network
MADRID – Pressure is mounting on former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero after Spain’s top criminal court opened a separate probe into him for alleged smuggling and tax fraud on Friday.
The new line of inquiry centres on more than 100 items of jewellery police agents found last month during a raid at Zapatero’s private office, valued at more than €1.3 million, according to the court statement.
Judge Jose Luis Calama claimed the legal origin of the jewels was “not currently justified”. Their possession, combined with the lack of tax documentation regarding their acquisition, constitutes “objective and reasonable evidence of the possible existence of significant tax fraud.”
He also found grounds to investigate possible smuggling offences, noting that the goods may have entered the EU “by circumventing the requisite controls and tax obligations”.
