Former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is now at the center of a widening money laundering and influence-trafficking investigation that has drawn in U.S. authorities and renewed scrutiny over his longstanding ties to Venezuela's government.
According to reporting by the Spanish newspaper El País, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) collaborated with Spain's National Police in the probe that led to Zapatero being formally named as a suspect by Spain's National Court. The investigation centers on the Spanish government's 53 million euro pandemic bailout of Plus Ultra, a Venezuela-linked airline.
