UPDATE: Sonsoles Espinosa, Zapatero’s wife, canceled the 500,000 euro mortgage thanks to the sale of a family home
Latest Developments:
Governments, analysts, and media outlets are continuing to follow this situation closely as additional details become available.
María Sonsoles Espinosa Díaz, wife of the former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, paid off a mortgage of 500,000 euros in advance thanks to the money obtained from the sale of a family home in the Madrid neighborhood of Valdemarín. As EL ESPAÑOL has learned, the repayment of the loan referred to by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) in its report did not occur thanks to the income of Zapatero, but with funds from that real estate operation. The money from the sale of the family property was deposited into a joint account of the couple. From there, the transfer was later made to repay the mortgage loan that the researchers excel in their profession. The UDEF, based on financial intelligence information, states that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and María Sonsoles Espinosa acquired a home located on Ramón Crespo street in Madrid on February 26, 2024. The purchase price was 580,000 euros. To finance the operation, Banco Santander granted the couple a mortgage loan in the amount of 500,000 euros. Advance payment Investigators point out that the mortgage was canceled in advance a few months later. The operation took place on January 16, 2025 through a transfer of 498,000 euros. The payment came from a Caixabank account in which Zapatero and his wife appeared as joint owners. In the banking documentation analyzed by the Police, Sonsoles Espinosa expressly appears as the originator of the transfer. This information led the UDEF to focus on the financial movement. The police report highlights that the loan was repaid at once and that the money came from a personal account of the couple. Laura Rodríguez, Sonsoles Espinosa and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. YouTube However, according to the information collected by this newspaper, the origin of these funds was not the professional income of the former president through the plot of the companies of the ‘Grupo Zapatero’, but the previous sale of a family home by Sonsoles Espinosa in Valdemarín. The amount of that real estate transaction was paid into the joint account of the couple. From there the transfer was made that allowed the mortgage linked to the property on Ramón Crespo street to be canceled. Family incomeJosé Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the company Whathefav SL, managed and owned by his daughters Laura and Alba Rodríguez Espinosa, appear in the UDEF and ONIF reports as the main final beneficiaries of the funds channeled through the investigated network. According to these reports, the former president received more than 1.52 million euros in his personal accounts. The majority came from Thinking Heads, which paid him 681,318.04 euros through 39 transfers. Added to that amount were 490,780 euros paid by Analysis Relevante SL, a company linked to Julio Martínez Martínez, and another 352,980 euros paid in by Gate Center, an entity formally chaired by Zapatero himself. For its part, Whathefav SL received more than one million euros under the justification of consulting work and layout of reports. The company received 561,440 euros from Inteligent Prospectiva SL, 239,755 euros from Relevant Analysis, 171,727 euros from Gate Center and other minor payments from Agropecuaria Lucena, Pickashop, Thinking Heads and the Venezuelan businessman Danilo Alfonso Diazgranados. UDEF maintains that part of that money ended up in the daughters’ personal accounts: 247,191.06 euros in Laura’s and 199,904.25 euros in Alba’s. Zapatero appeared as authorized in both accounts.
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Source: This article was originally published by El Español – Home and adapted for our international English-speaking audience.
Read the original article here.