Prosecutor's Office Opens Third Money Laundering Investigation into ex King

MadridThe Prosecutor's Office has opened a third line of investigation into the King Emeritus which will be taken up by a team of Supreme Court prosecutors alongside the Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor. They have taken this decision after receiving a financial intelligence report from the Executive Service of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offences (Sepblac). This investigation joins those looking into alleged commissions for the high speed trains to Mecca and for the use of opaque credit cards.

The proceedings have only just ben opened and it has not yet been revealed whether it also affects other people apart from Juan Carlos. Neither has it transcended whether the alleged acts were prior to or subsequent to his abdication. This is key, as a king cannot be judged by a court. However, if it were after his abdication, he could stand trial in the Supreme Court.

Different rhythms

The three investigations into Juan Carlos have different rhythms, as explained by the prosecutors. The looking into the commissions in the construction of the high speed train is the most advanced and a report on whether to prosecute Juan Carlos is expected by the end of the year. It has been hinted that king's inviolability at the time would be an impediment to the invesstigation. The prosecutor's office considers that the investigation concerning the AVE is the easiest to delimit "temporarily" because it is known when the events took place, while in the other two "the time reference is difficult to establish".

It was also announced that the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, Alejandro Luzón, will join the team of Supreme Court prosecutors in order to give "operability and continuity" to the investigation. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that, whatever may come of these cases, Juan Carlos already fled Spain in August beset by corruption cases that have not stopped growing since then.