Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Seeks Investigation of Zapatero for Embezzlement Over Jewels Worth More Than €1.3 Million

What the Prosecutor’s Office argues

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has asked National High Court judge José Luis Calama to investigate former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for alleged embezzlement of public funds, in connection with jewels found in his office and preliminarily valued at more than €1.3 million.

The request is based on Zapatero’s account: that the pieces were a gift from the then king of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah, during his official visit to Spain in June 2007. Prosecutor María Elena Lorente argues that, if this account is true, the former president received the jewels as prime minister and should have handed them over to the State Assets Office when he left office.

The Prosecutor’s Office bases this interpretation on the 2005 Code of Good Governance, which was in force during Zapatero’s terms in office. It stipulated that significant official gifts had to be incorporated into the state’s assets, rather than kept by the recipient on account of their position.

The 2012 record and registered gifts

A key piece of evidence for the Prosecutor’s Office is the record of transfer to the State Assets Office dated March 1, 2012, after Zapatero had left the presidency. According to the prosecutor’s report, the jewels under investigation do not appear in that inventory, although another gift from the same monarch is listed: a mantel clock with emeralds.

The Prosecutor’s Office argues that, if official receipt of the pieces and failure to hand them over are confirmed, they may have acquired the status of public funds when they were received at La Moncloa. On that basis, it suggests that their omission from the 2012 inventory could constitute embezzlement. This is the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office’s position, not a judicial finding that the former president is guilty.

The Prosecutor’s Office also considers that the alleged offense may not have become time-barred: in its filing, it applies a 15-year limitation period, counted from the transfer of the gifts to the State Assets Office in March 2012. Whether an offense occurred, its legal classification, and how the limitation period is calculated will have to be determined in the proceedings.

Judge requests documents before deciding on Saudi Arabia

Separately, Calama has ordered the State Assets Office to submit, within two days, the records of acceptance of official gifts received by the Prime Minister’s Office during the 2004–2008 and 2008–2011 parliamentary terms. The documents will make it possible to check which gifts are officially recorded in the Administration’s registers.

Zapatero’s defense had requested a letter rogatory to Saudi Arabia to try to verify the origin of the jewels. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office opposes this step, arguing that the investigation should focus on Spain, where, according to the former president’s account, the pieces were handed over. The Prosecutor’s Office also questions the evidentiary value of letters that the defense says it sent to the Saudi authorities, noting that there is no acknowledgment of receipt.

The judge has first requested the Spanish records and will decide afterward whether to seek information from Riyadh. The case concerning the jewels is being heard in a separate part of the proceedings related to the investigation into alleged smuggling; the request to investigate embezzlement as well broadens the questions to be clarified, but does not amount to a conviction.