$US100m corruption case against Spain’s former king dropped

A $US100m fraud case against former Spanish king Juan Carlos has been dropped, removing an obstacle to his return to Spain from exile in Abu Dhabi.

Spain's former king Juan Carlos, centre, with King Felipe and Queen Letizia. Picture: AFP.

A $US100m fraud case against former Spanish king Juan Carlos has been dropped, removing an obstacle to his return to Spain from exile in Abu Dhabi.

The investigation was launched over suspicions he received $US100m in kickbacks for facilitating a high-speed rail contract in Saudi Arabia awarded to a Spanish consortium.

After three years of investigation, Geneva top prosecutor’s office said it was dropping the case because it could not find enough evidence to link the money transferred into a Swiss bank – which was then transferred on to a Bahamas account in the name of the king’s ex-mistress – with the rail contract.

Geneva prosecutors opened a probe on August 2018 into suspicions of “aggravated money laundering” against the 83-year-old former monarch following media reports about possible illegal commissions he had pocketed in connection with the high-speed train deal.

A Spanish consortium was awarded the contract in 2011 to build the rail link between Medina and Mecca.

The suspicions centred on $US100m that Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah deposited in 2008 into a Swiss bank account to which Juan Carlos had access.

The Geneva prosecutors said their investigation had established that the money had indeed been deposited into an account with Geneva bank Mirabaud & Cie belonging to the Lucum foundation, for which Juan Carlos held the economic rights.

They also determined that there was evidence the ex-king transferred the bulk of this money in 2012 to an account in the Bahamas belonging to a company held by his former mistress, German businesswoman Corinna Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.

The prosecutors said that the complexity of the transactions, using a foundation and various companies, “showed a will to dissimulation”, but said there was not enough evidence to proceed.

Ms Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein said she had been “cleared of wrongdoing of any kind” as a result of this decision.

“This episode has served to harm me further as part of the ongoing abuse campaign against me by certain Spanish interests,” she added.

Ms Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein is currently seeking a civil personal injury damages claim against Juan Carlos in a British court, accusing him of spying on and harassing her after their relationship ended.

Juan Carlos has been in exile in Abu Dhabi since August 2020 as the monarchy tried to battle away claims about his involvement in tax evasion and bribery operations. Months earlier King Felipe, his son, disinherited himself and cut Juan Carlos’s €200,000-a-year ($320,000) stipend in an attempt to distance the crown from the allegations.

The ex-king, a key figure in Spain’s transition to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, has been the target of several probes in Spain over his financial dealings there.

Spanish prosecutors decided earlier this month to push on with their investigation for another six months.

The probes have especially been focused on whether there were any illegal dealings after the former king abdicated in 2004 and lost his immunity.

While he has not been charged with any crime, the probes have tainted his reputation and that of the Spanish monarchy.

AFP