Surveys are underway in Switzerland, Spain, where the media regularly publish details about the management of the funds
Madrid:
Former Spanish king Juan Carlos, who is under investigation at home and abroad for corruption, announced Monday he would go into exile.
The 82-year-old has revealed he will be leaving the country in a letter to his son, the current King Felipe VI, who accepted his decision and thanked him, the royal palace said in a statement.
“Guided by the conviction to best serve the Spanish people, its institutions and you as king, I inform you of my decision at this time to exile myself outside Spain,” wrote Juan Carlos.
“It is a decision that I take with deep anguish, but with great peace of mind,” he added. He didn’t say where he would go.
Polls are underway in Switzerland and Spain where the media regularly publish details of the murky handling of funds allegedly paid to the former head of state by Saudi Arabia.
Spain’s Supreme Court announced in June an investigation to determine the ex-monarch’s legal responsibility – but because of the immunity he only enjoys for acts committed after his abdication.
The suspicions relate to $ 100 million which was allegedly paid secretly into a Swiss bank account in 2008.
After a series of media revelations, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez spoke in July saying that “the whole Spanish population is receiving disturbing information which disturbs all of us, including me”.
The ex-king’s lawyer, Javier Sanchez-Junco, released a statement on Monday saying his client was not trying to escape justice by going into exile and would remain available to prosecutors.
– Popular for decades –
Juan Carlos ascended to the throne in 1975 upon the death of fascist dictator Francisco Franco and reigned for 38 years before abdicating in favor of his son Felipe VI in June 2014.
He was a popular figure for decades, playing a key role in the democratic transition from the Franco dictatorship that ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975.
The website of the Royal Household, which published the letter, noted that Felipe wanted to emphasize the historical importance “of his father’s reign” in the service of Spain and democracy “.
An investigation opened in Spain in September 2018 following the publication of documents attributed to German businesswoman Corinna Larsen, allegedly a former mistress of Juan Carlos.
She claimed he received a commission when a consortium of Spanish companies was awarded a contract for a high-speed railroad to connect the holy Muslim cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
Larsen told Swiss investigators that he had transferred nearly 65 million euros to the Bahamas, “not to get rid of the money” but “out of gratitude and love,” according to the daily El Pais.
Swiss media reported last March that Juan Carlos was paid $ 100 million into the Swiss bank account of a Panamanian foundation by the late Saudi King Abdullah in 2008.
The same month, the Daily Telegraph in Britain reported that Felipe VI was also a beneficiary of the foundation.
The king withdraws from his father an annual royal allowance of nearly 200,000 euros and renounces his inheritance “to preserve the exemplary nature of the crown”.
Online media El Espanol reported that Swiss lawyer Dante Canonica told the Geneva prosecutor’s office that he had been tasked with “creating a structure” to hide funds paid to Juan Carlos.
“Wherever he goes he will have to pay for what he did,” said 33-year-old publicist Inigo Inchaurraga, who was walking his dog in Madrid.
“It’s a shame because he’s done a lot for Spain, but it’s clear that at some point in his career he got corrupted.”
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
