Former monarch Juan Carlos claims that a former mistress to whom he donated $ 65 million did not serve as a “nominee” to hide his fortune.
Keystone
Former Spanish king Juan Carlos contradicts accusations of corruption that drove him into exile. The Spanish press published a letter dated 2018 in which the man denies the fact that a former mistress would have served as an intermediary to protect his wealth.
Corinna Larsen, who was the king’s lover from 2004 to 2009, admitted that she later received a huge donation of $ 65 million from him, according to an investigation by the Swiss newspaper La Tribune de Genève.
Donation of 65 million
In an interview broadcast by the BBC on Thursday, she said the king gave her this “extraordinarily generous gift” in recognition for her friendship, for securing her future, and because he had taken to her son.
This businesswoman of Danish origin who took the name of a former German husband, Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, is the subject, along with other suspects, of an investigation by the Swiss justice into the funds deposited in Switzerland by the former monarch, including $ 100 million received from Saudi Arabia in 2011.
The Swiss prosecutor suspects that the 65 million donation to Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was in fact used to hide what remained of the 100 million Saudi Arabians. If that were the case, and if the money was of illicit origin, she would have been guilty of money laundering, which she categorically denies.
“Irrevocable donation” insured
The publication of the letter, dated August 12, 2018, shortly after the Spanish press had published recordings attributed to Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein where she accuses the king of corruption, therefore defends the thesis of her innocence.
In this letter in French to his Swiss businessman, lawyer Dante Canonica, Juan Carlos assures that the donation made to Corinna in 2012 was irrevocable, and that he never sought to recover the money. that he had given her.
“Madame Corinna zu Sayn Wittgenstein has therefore never” carried “money on my behalf, contrary to what could be indicated by the Spanish press”, writes the former monarch.
Ongoing judicial investigations
The publication of the letter follows the BBC interview, where Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein claims that the king “confirmed that he never asked for the money back and that I never wore money for him ”.
The scandal raised by the revelations of his former mistress, which triggered judicial inquiries in Switzerland and Spain, prompted the former ruler to leave Spain on August 3 to settle in the United Arab Emirates. But he said he remained at the disposal of justice.
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