corruption
Detectives have discovered how money from the Nóos Institute was channelled out of the country via a group of firms based on the outskirts of London
09.01.12 - 15:14 -
Last week the King’s son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin was formally indicted in the ‘Babel’ embezzlement and money laundering case. Details of the investigation have now been released by the court.
In 2006 King Juan Carlos ordered Urdangarin to break all ties with the “non-profit” Nóos institute which was already under suspicion for its overinflated contracts with the Balearic and Valencia governments to organise sports forums. The investigation has revealed that from then on the royal son-in-law and his partner, Diego Torres, went to great lengths to get as much money out of Spain before the suspicions went any further.
After months of investigation the Spanish Police’s Financial and Tax Crime squad (UDEF) has managed to piece together the complicated system used by Urdangarin to launder funds. Their enquiries led them to the UK, more precisely to offices in the town of Staines on the outskirts of London, and to a foundation set up to help disabled children.
According to the investigation, after the King ordered his son-in-law to break ties wth Nóos, Urdangarin and his partner found themselves an expert in international taxation, the Catalan lawyer Salvador Trinxet. As well as directing a number of companies, Trinxet, who has also been indicted in the case, is the owner of the Braxton Group, a holding company with a number of subsidiaries, whose head office is in Staines. The group offers professional services to international firms and their owners, services that include strategies to reduce “tax burdens” in international transactions and asset protection.
Trinxet, who is also based in Barcelona, was given the job of helping the partners “empty” the Nóos institute and its web of connected firms (which by that time had generated an income of 15 million euros) without these movements being traced to firms in the name of the Duke and Torres.
In March 2006, the firm ‘De Goes Center for Stakeholder Management Ltd’ was set up by Trinxet using the same address as the Braxton head office: Albany House, Station Path, Staines. The next move was to create a ‘mirror’ company in Spain, this time ‘De Goes Center for Stakeholder Management SL’ to avoid suspicion with transactions between firms of the same name. Urdangarin and Torres then had no qualms about making use of a new foundation created by Torres, FDCIS, whose aims included the social integration of handicapped children. The FDCIS became the owner of 99 per cent of the Spanish De Goes.
And so, with the mechanism in place, the laundrette was set in motion. De Goes-Barcelona invoiced the foundation for million euro consultancy services, studies and jobs that never existed. The funds were then passed from De Goes Spain to De Goes UK, from where Trinxet allegedly used his international network to make the funds fade into ‘opacity’.
The UDEF so far has traced hundreds of thousands of euros to Panama, Belize and Luxembourg, but the investigation could go on for years. In June 2010 the British De Goes ceased to exist, several months before the investigation began.
Interrogation
Urdangarin has been called to be questioned by the judge on February 25th, the last of a series of interviews with the accused.
The name of the Infanta Cristina, also appears in the police reports, although the public prosecution department maintains its theory that the King’s younger daughter was unaware of her husband’s business affairs. It is thought that the real estate firm Aizoon, owned in equal shares by Urdangarin and the Infanta Cristina, made some 1.7 million euros from services that were never provided, invoicing the Balearic Government on at least three occasions.
The multi-talented Duke of Palma
The ‘Babel’ investigation has revealed that the King’s son-in-law charged the regional authorities ridiculous amounts for incredible schemes and services. When Urdangarin was supposedly no longer connected with his private business affiars his real estate firm Aizoon, co-owned with his wife, the Infanta Cristina, charged 30,000 euros for a feasibility study for the celebration of a ‘World Popular Festivals’ event.
In 2005 the Duke and his partner invoiced the Catalan regional government 34,375 euros for supposed technical support provided for projects related to health cooperation in developing countries, a field in which their firms had no experience.
Nothing could surprise the detectives now. Not even the fact that Urdangarin billed the Balearic government 3,093 euros for “a set of postcards” of the Illes Balears cycling team.
pie de foto: The Duke of Palma and the Infanta Cristina early last year. Reuters
