The chairman of Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas, Julio Miguel Martínez Sola, along with the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), Roberto Roselli Miele, were taken into custody on Thursday during an operation spearheaded by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and executed by the National Police’s UDEF unit. The operation involved a search of the airline’s headquarters, where documents and digital storage devices were confiscated, as reported by legal sources referenced by multiple media outlets.
The inquiry, currently under secrecy of proceedings (sealed), is overseen by Madrid’s Court of Investigation No. 15 and centers on suspected money laundering. Prosecutors contend that public funds from the 2021 bailout provided to the airline—€53 million in total—might have been misappropriated.
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.
Which offences are being investigated, and why the public bailout is involved
According to Cadena SER, the detainees are provisionally suspected of offences such as money laundering, misappropriation, and criminal organization, although the final legal classification will depend on the progress of the investigation and what is clarified once the secrecy 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 crucial procedural detail: Anti-Corruption prosecutors reportedly first attempted to submit the case to the National Court (Audiencia Nacional), but the court declined to take it, sending the complaint instead to Investigating Court No. 15. It is also noted that a previous probe into the bailout had been closed, while this new line of investigation has begun as a separate case file, a decision the defense 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 is associated with Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas, S.A. Meanwhile, Roberto Roselli Miele is listed by his full name in the airline’s corporate documents, including the 2024 notice calling for the General Shareholders’ Meeting, which specifically mentions 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.
