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Switzerland files the file against the manager of the fortune of the king emeritus

2022-08-02T10:36:19.376Z


The investigation concludes without economic sanction to the lawyer Dante Canonica, the director of the foundation in which Juan Carlos I hid 65 million


Swiss lawyers have archived the criminal-administrative file opened on Dante Canonica, the director of the Panamanian Lucum foundation in whose name the account of Juan Carlos I was opened in the Geneva bank Mirabaud & Cie in which the then head of state received 64 .5 million euros from the Government of Saudi Arabia.

The file has concluded without conviction or economic sanction to the lawyer who created and directed for years the opaque structure that served to hide the fortune of the king emeritus, sources close to the investigation told EL PAÍS.

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Corinna Larsen shielded her house, computers and telephones for fear of being spied on by the CNI

Despite the fact that Yves Bertossa, the Swiss prosecutor who investigated the case, highlighted Canonica's repeated spirit of concealment and the rest of those involved in the opening of the account, the creation of the Panamanian foundation and in the movement of the 64.5 million , the commission of lawyers that opened the file has decided to file it.

These investigations attempted to determine whether the regulations required of lawyers acting as financial intermediaries were breached.

The investigation into Canonica's performance in managing the 64.5 million donated by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance was adopted by the Self-Regulatory Organization of the Swiss Federation of Lawyers (OAR-FSA).

This body brings together more than 11,000 Swiss lawyers and assumes the functions provided by law in the fight against money laundering.

Their inquiries are supervised by FINMA, a federal authority that regulates and supervises the Swiss financial market (an entity similar to the CNMV in Spain).

The files sometimes end in economic sanctions and cause damage to the image of the offices affected.

They are lawyers attached to the OAR who examine their colleagues and determine if the established criteria have been met.

Unexemplary performance

Canonica's performance was not exemplary despite the filing of the file, according to Genevan judicial media.

The Swiss Prosecutor's Office confirmed that neither Canonica nor Arturo Fasana, external manager of the account where the 64.5 million was hidden, traveled to Saudi Arabia to verify why the Ministry of Finance of that country sent, on August 8, 2008, in the name of the Lucum account the 64.5 million to Juan Carlos I. The director of Lucum told Bertossa that he trusted the word Fasana when he told him that the money was a "pure gift" (pure gift) from King Abdalá Bin Abdelaziz to his "brother", without any verification.

He also did not speak with Al Jubeir, the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington, who supposedly told Fasana about the "gift" that Juan Carlos I was going to receive.

Canonica did not report the operation to the institutions that pursue money laundering in Switzerland.

The director of Lucum also knew that the money had not been declared to the Spanish Treasury.

Dante Canonica remained indicted for three years by the prosecutor Bertossa for an alleged aggravated crime of money laundering that was filed last December.

The representative of the public ministry reproached the lawyer for his actions as director of the Lucum foundation.

In his filing order, he highlighted numerous pieces of evidence that demonstrate the "spirit of concealment" of Canonica, Fasana and Corinna Larsen, the ex-partner of Juan Carlos I to whom he transferred the money to an account in Nassau (Bahamas).

"The use of a foundation (Lucum) and domiciled companies by the different protagonists demonstrated a desire to hide," Bertossa highlighted in his order.

Yves Bertossa speaks on the phone at a bank in Geneva, Switzerland, in a file image. Harold Cunningham (Getty Images)

The Swiss lawyer, in addition to being the Panamanian screen for Lucum, informed the former Head of State Juan Carlos I about his investments and liquidity and was aware of the donation of 65 million that the king emeritus made to Larsen, in June 2012 , shortly after the Botswana elephant hunting scandal broke.

According to his statement, it was Juan Carlos I who asked him during a meeting at the La Zarzuela Palace to create a structure to receive "a donation" from Saudi Arabia.

The lawyer is a specialist in financial, corporate and wealth management law.

He himself created almost all the instrumental companies, at least 12, in tax havens that the German consultant used to acquire millionaire properties.

unsolved mystery

The OAR established that independent lawyers and notaries in Switzerland who work in financial intermediation are subject to internal rules of conduct approved by this institution.

Each office establishes its level of risk and its requirements based on the profiles of the clients.

Thus, determining criteria are whether or not the person is a PEP (Politically Exposed Person), the amounts to be administered or the position that the client's country occupies on the list of corruption in the world.

They are lawyers attached to the OAR who examine their colleagues and determine if the established criteria have been met.

An unsolved mystery about Canonica's actions is why, before the closure of Juan Carlos I's account, 3.5 million were transferred to an account in the name of Canonica's Dolphin company at the Swiss bank Pictet & Cie in Nassau (Bahamas). ), the same tax haven where the 65 million that the emeritus king sent to Larsen were hidden.

“I have regularized my situation before the Treasury of Geneva”, explained the lawyer when Bertossa questioned him about that income that, according to him, was authorized by the then Head of State.

Both Canonical and Fasana, who was advised by the former in his wealth management company Rhone Gestion, received their fees from Lucum's account.

The first for managing the foundation and the second for managing the assets.

Canonica, who has just retired and has delegated the management of her office to one of her children, has not responded to the questions sent by this newspaper.

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Source: elparis

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