New accounts of the PP ex-treasurer appear in Canada and the Delaware tax haven with another $ 25.5 million

The National Court investigates new bank accounts in Canada and the tax haven of Delaware (USA) in the name of the former treasurer of the PP Luis Barcenas And his wife Rosalia Iglesias. The judge investigating the Gürtel case, Santiago Pedraz, has received a complaint detailing 15 deposits worth $ 25.5 million, the equivalent of € 21.5 million, transferred to accounts at the Royal Bank of Canada and at a Calvin Taylor Bank branch located in the Delaware tax haven (USA). According to the documentation investigated by the magistrate to which OKDIARIO has had access, Bárcenas and his wife appear as holders of the deposits. This newspaper has learned that the instructor has transferred these documents to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.

The complaint reflects 15 tanks made from the Swiss bank UBS to bank accounts in the name of Luis Bárcenas and his wife in the Canadian entity Royal Bank and Calvin Taylor Bank (USA). The brief has been presented before the Central Court of Instruction Number 5 and before the State Tax Administration Agency. The complaint states: «Because he considers that it may be of interest to him, having processed in his Court cases related to the former popular treasurer, I enclose a copy of the complaint filed before the AEAT where I transcribe a bank information that links the Bárcenas-Iglesias marriage to various accounts / deposits opened in entities located in Vancouver (Canada) and the state of Delaware (USA) ». The complaint has been presented by the investigator Alberto Royuela.

OKDIARIO has had access to the documents that the judge of the Gürtel case. Among them, five deposits made to bank accounts at the Royal Bank in the name of Luis Bárcenas stand out. are currently in force. These accounts were opened on March 12, 2013. At that time, Bárcenas was already accused in the corruption case and, three months later, the judge Pablo Ruz – at that time an instructor of the procedure – decreed provisional imprisonment for the former manager and former ‘popular’ treasurer, with the aim of “ensuring the preservation of the sources of evidence and avoiding the risk of flight.”

The five transfers in the Royal Bank in the name of Bárcenas were made from the Swiss entity UBS. It so happens that only three months after this diversion of funds was ordered, in June 2013, Judge Ruz discovered that Bárcenas accumulated 47 million euros in Switzerland, as reported by the Swiss authorities to the then instructor in a rogatory commission. The investigators found three new accounts with 25 million euros in the Lombard Odier entity, which were added to the 22 million that the former treasurer had deposited in the Dresdner Bank. The Swiss authorities also reported on numerous transfers that appeared in these accounts and in other banking entities; Among them, he highlighted one million euros that was transferred to the UBS AG STAMFORD entity on March 8, 2009, shortly after the corruption plot broke out. Belt.

Bárcenas’s accounts

Bárcenas allegedly transferred funds from Switzerland to Canada through conformed checks. According to the Bank of Spain, it is a type of check that has a special element, a compliance clause that usually appears on the back of the check. In other words, the bank includes in these checks a signal such as the words “compliant”, “certify”, “visa” or any other that refers to the guarantee of collection. This indicates that the bank that is to pay the check has sufficient funds to do so. Therefore, the bearer is guaranteed to collect the check for as long as it is valid.

These money deposits made from the Swiss bank USB to the branch of the Royal Bank in Vancouver They amount to 12.5 million dollars, just over 10.5 million euros, which were made in five transfers of 2.5 million dollars (2.1 million euros) each.

The judge is also investigating 6 transfers of 1.5 million dollars (1.3 million euros) each made a month earlier, on February 14, 2014, to a Calvin Taylor Bank account in the US tax haven of Delaware. In total, 9 million dollars (7.6 million euros) were transferred from the Swiss bank UBS to an account owned by Luis Bárcenas, according to the information in the court.

Delaware is a tiny US territory that has more businesses than people. This gigantic financial enclave has registered more than 1.3 million merchants compared to a population that does not reach one million inhabitants. The current president of the United States has his place of residence in this state, Joe Biden, where he lives most of the time with his wife Jill.

Rosalía, 4 million

The documents place the wife of Bárcenas, Rosalia Iglesias, sentenced to 12 years and 11 months in prison, as an account holder in the Royal Bank which received $ 4 million –3.4 million euros – on March 15, 2013.

The judge of the belt investigates four deposits of 1 million dollars (841,000 euros) each, made to an account allegedly in the name of Rosalía Iglesias in the Canadian entity. It should be noted that all bank accounts, according to the last query made between March 24 to 26, 2021, are active.

This Swiss bank had a branch in Spain located at calle Núñez de Balboa nº4, that is, 600 meters from the family home of the Bárcenas, in the central Madrid street Príncipe de Vergara. However, seven years ago, in 2014, it closed its Madrid office.

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