Former Spanish King Juan Carlos went into temporary exile earlier this year
Credit: CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP
Former Spanish King Juan Carlos is facing a new probe into possible fraud involving an offshore bank account, which is alleged to have taken place after he lost immunity from prosecution due to his abdication in 2014.
Juan Carlos went into temporary exile in Abu Dhabi in August after his controversial fortune prompted several judicial investigations, although no charges have yet to be brought against the 82-year-old former king.
It was revealed by Spanish newspaper El Diario on Tuesday that anti-corruption prosecutors have found evidence they claim shows that Juan Carlos and his wife, Queen Sofía, spent large sums on credit cards linked to a bank account outside Spain that was not in their names.
El Diario reported that prosecutors have found what they say is evidence of criminal tax fraud as the sum spent met the minimum threshold of €120,000 in at least one of the three years investigated. As the alleged payments with these cards took place between 2016 and 2018, Juan Carlos would be liable to face charges, although it is unclear whether he will.
The offence of tax fraud carries a jail sentence of between one and five years in Spain.
The Panama-registered Lucum Foundation was closed in 2012, with the money donated to the king's former lover, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein
Credit: Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images
On Tuesday, Spain’s attorney general announced that Supreme Court prosecutors would take on the credit card probe, besides an investigation launched in June as to whether Juan Carlos should be charged in relation to a $100m fund he had not declared in Spain.
The Panama-registered Lucum Foundation, set up by Juan Carlos in 2008 with a $100m “gift” from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, was closed in 2012 and the money donated to the former Spanish monarch’s onetime lover, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.
A prosecutor in Geneva is investigating whether the money from Saudi Arabia was a kickback to Juan Carlos in connection with a high-speed train contract worth €6.7 billion awarded to a Spanish consortium.
Queen Sofia is alleged to have used the cards to fund trips to London, where she stays at Claridge's Hotel
Credit: Andrew Holt
However, sources from Spain’s Supreme Court have suggested that Juan Carlos is unlikely to face charges in relation to the Saudi imbroglio as the cash movements all took place prior to his abdication and therefore while he was immune from prosecution.
According to the latest revelations, other members of the royal family had allegedly used the secret credit cards including some of Juan Carlos and Sofía’s grandchildren, but King Felipe and Queen Letizia are not under suspicion.
Queen Sofía allegedly used her card to fund travel to London, where she reportedly spends extended periods at Claridge’s hotel.
Ms zu Sayn-Wittgenstein claimed in a Telegraph interview last month that Juan Carlos had helped his entire family to live in luxury, and that he had shown her a “cash room” he kept full of money in the Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid.
“From what he said to me, any family member who needed cash helped themselves to it,” she said.
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