Spain's Zapatero says seized jewels worth $1.5 million were a 'courtesy gift'

Spain’s Zapatero says seized jewels worth $1.5 million were a ‘courtesy gift’ amid an ongoing corruption probe. Former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero told Spain’s TVE on Thursday that €1.3 million (about $1.5 million) of jewellery seized by police was a personal gift he received years earlier and never meant for financial gain. He said the items were stored for years with other family valuables and were unrelated to political activities. Zapatero is being investigated over alleged influence-peddling, which he denies, and a separate probe was opened into the jewels’ origin, which investigators say remains undocumented. An auction house provisionally valued the pieces at about €1.3 million, though Zapatero disputed it. Opposition People’s Party (PP) officials dismissed his comments.