The chairman of Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas, Julio Miguel Martínez Sola, and the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), Roberto Roselli Miele, were arrested on Thursday as part of an operation led by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and carried out by the National Police’s UDEF unit. The operation included a search of the airline’s headquarters and the seizure of documents and digital storage devices, according to legal sources cited by several media outlets.
The investigation, which is under secrecy of proceedings (sealed), is being handled by Madrid’s Court of Investigation No. 15 and revolves around alleged money laundering. Prosecutors argue that public funds from the 2021 bailout granted to the airline—€53 million in total—may have been misused.
After appearing before the court, released under precautionary measures
After being held in custody, the executives were taken this Saturday to the courts in Madrid, where they appeared before the duty court (Investigating Court No. 13). The judge ordered their release under precautionary measures: passport surrender, a ban on leaving Spain, and periodic court check-ins. According to the information published, the suspects exercised their right to remain silent, a common decision in proceedings that have been declared confidential.
What violations are under investigation, and why is the public bailout implicated?
According to Cadena SER, the people detained are provisionally linked to offenses such as money laundering, misappropriation, and criminal organization, though the final legal classification will depend on the progress of the inquiry and on what emerges once the confidentiality order is lifted.
The core of the matter, according to early assessments and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s report, could relate to the alleged routing of illicit funds originating in Venezuela through European channels, possibly coinciding with financial transfers that followed the bailout. As described by the Prosecutor, these unlawful resources may stem from payments tied to Venezuelan public programs (such as CLAP) and transactions involving gold.
Cadena SER adds a relevant procedural point: Anti-Corruption prosecutors reportedly attempted to take the case initially to the National Court (Audiencia Nacional), which declined jurisdiction, and the complaint subsequently ended up before Investigating Court No. 15. It is also noted that a previous investigation into the bailout was shelved, and that this new line of inquiry has been opened as a separate case file, something the defence teams are already challenging.
Who are Julio Miguel Martínez Sola and Roberto Roselli Miele?
In public corporate registry records, the name Julio Miguel Martínez Sola appears linked to Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas, S.A. For his part, Roberto Roselli Miele appears under his full name in the airline’s corporate documentation, such as the 2024 notice convening the General Shareholders’ Meeting, which explicitly references the “Appointment of the Board Member, Mr. Roberto Roselli Miele.”
With the suspects released under precautionary measures, the case enters a more technical phase: analysis of the seized material, tracing transactions and the flow of funds, and potentially further summonses or an expansion of charges if evidence is consolidated. As long as the proceedings remain sealed, evidentiary details will largely be limited to what emerges from judicial sources and to the court decisions that become public.
