suspicion of corruption
Investigations against Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I dropped
Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I no longer has to fear justice.
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The Spanish judiciary has announced the end of all investigations against former King Juan Carlos I – and thus made it possible for the former head of state to return to Spain.
Spanish Supreme Court prosecutors drop investigation into former King Juan Carlos I. This is reported by the Spanish media, including “El Mundo”. The 84-year-old’s lawyer confirmed that the investigation against his client had been discontinued.
According to the documents signed by the chief prosecutor against corruption, the ministry believes that there is no solid evidence against the monarch emeritus to lodge a complaint with the criminal division of the Supreme Court.
In addition, prosecutors concluded that Juan Carlos cannot be prosecuted because he was untouchable during his time as head of state. A statute of limitations is also mentioned.
Since 2020, Spanish authorities have opened three investigations into King Felipe VI’s father. a. Among other things, it was about accounts on the island of Jersey, dubious gifts of money in the millions from Saudi Arabia and allegations of money laundering. At the center of the suspicions was a sum of 100 million dollars (65 million euros) that the then Saudi Arabian King Abdullah had deposited in 2008 into a Swiss bank account that Juan Carlos also had access to.
Investigators have found no direct or indirect link between the payment and the award of a contract to a Spanish consortium to build a high-speed rail link between Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, the prosecutor said in a statement. In addition, the Mexican businessman Allen Sanginés-Krause is said to have made credit cards available to Juan Carlos, which he is said to have used to buy a granddaughter a show jumping horse worth over 10,000 euros.
Juan Carlos wants to return to Spain
Juan Carlos has been living in exile in Abu Dhabi for a year and a half and is said to be interested in returning to his home country. The palace announced on August 3, 2020 that the former head of state was no longer in the country. A letter was published on the official website in which the ex-king declared his departure. After the Spanish Supreme Court opened an investigation into his involvement in the corruption scandal, he said he wanted to avert greater damage to the palace’s reputation by leaving.
Juan Carlos I was King of Spain from November 22, 1975 to June 18, 2014. The monarch had to abdicate because his alleged extramarital affairs, the scandal surrounding elephant hunting in Africa and the financial scandal surrounding son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin had damaged the royal family’s reputation. Since June 2014, Juan Carlos’ son Felipe VI. and his wife Letizia the new royal couple.