Politics · Spain · 5 hrs ago
Witness alleges Zapatero’s jewels were linked to Saudi rail contract
A witness says jewels found in José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s office were an illegal commission linked to a high-speed rail project in Saudi Arabia.
Zapatero, Spain’s former prime minister, has said the jewels were a gift from Saudi King Abdullah in 2007.
The witness, a woman who worked in public procurement in Saudi Arabia, says the jewels were payment connected to a maintenance contract for the railway to Mecca.
She alleges the commission was 2.5% of the contract award and says four other people could support her account.
The jewels were found in a safe in Zapatero’s office and were valued by one jeweller at more than €1.3 million; the witness says their accounting value exceeds €4 million.
The allegation has not been established, and the existence of a witness statement does not prove that illegal payments were made.
Investigators will need to assess her account, check any documents and determine whether other witnesses corroborate it.
A witness told Spain’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office that jewels found in José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s office were an illegal commission linked to a high-speed rail contract in Saudi Arabia.
The witness says the jewels were payment in kind for the contract to maintain the Medina–Mecca rail line.
The witness alleges the commission was 2.5% of the contract award and says the jewels’ accounting value exceeded €4 million.
Zapatero has said the jewels were a gift from Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz during an official visit in 2007.
The allegations have not been established by a court, and investigators have yet to verify the witness’s account.
- Who
- A witness, described as a former public-procurement executive in Saudi Arabia, made the allegations about former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
- What
- The witness says jewels found in Zapatero’s office were an illegal commission connected to a Saudi rail contract.
- When
- The rail project was negotiated in 2009 and its contract was signed on 14 January 2012. The prosecutor’s office received the witness’s documents in late September, according to one report.
- Where
- The jewels were found in a safe in Zapatero’s office in Madrid; the witness sent information from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
- Why
- The witness says the jewels were payment for helping secure a contract to maintain the high-speed rail line to Mecca.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
The witness
Origin of the jewels
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Zapatero said they were a gift from Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz during an official visit in 2007.
The witness
The witness says they were an illegal commission linked to the Saudi rail contract.
Zapatero said Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz gave him the jewels during an official visit.
Negotiations for the Saudi high-speed rail project took place while Zapatero was prime minister.
The rail contract was signed, according to El Debate.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office received documents from the witness, according to El Nacional.cat.
- Alleged commission
- 2.5% of the award value of a rail-maintenance contract
- Witness’s potential corroborators
- Four people: one Saudi negotiator and three Spanish executives
- Jewels’ reported value
- The witness says their accounting value exceeded €4 million
- First valuation
- Perits from Ansorena valued the jewels at more than €1.3 million
- Contract signing
- 14 January 2012
3 sources
Un testigo asegura que las joyas de Zapatero son una comisión por el AVE a la Meca y no un regalo
¿Ya sabemos de dónde salieron las joyas ocultas de Zapatero? Una testigo revela su supuesto origen
Anticorrupción tiene un testigo que sostiene que las joyas de Zapatero fueron una mordida por llevar el AVE a Arabia Saudí
What people are saying
ha sido un insistente intermediario de negocio, utilizando su posición como gestor del PSOE para presionar de manera constante sobre altos cargos públicos
existen comprobantes y justificantes de pago abonados al engranaje corrupto del sistema de José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero a través de sus lobbies