👑 Juan Carlos paid €5.1M; prosecutors shelved two probes
The fines and back taxes came first. In March 2022 prosecutors said they found no prosecutable evidence; his lawyer says he was cleared. 🗣️
By MissesSlay, royals desk · Desk editor Kristaps Siliņš · · 5 min read
PAIDPhoto: Irekia · CC BY 2.0What we know
- His lawyer said on 9 December 2020 that Juan Carlos I had paid a tax debt of 678,393.72 euros after a declaration made without prior demand (El Nacional, eldiario.es).
- eldiario.es reported on 25 February 2021, citing El País and people familiar, that he made a second payment of 4.4 million euros tied to private-jet flights paid by a foundation run by his cousin.
- On 2 March 2022 Spanish Supreme Court prosecutors shelved two investigations, saying any possible fraud was outside the statute of limitations and he was immune until his 2014 abdication (Euronews).
- Prosecutors said the investigations recovered 5.1 million euros in fines and taxes on income he had failed to declare (Euronews).
- Geneva prosecutors dropped their Swiss probe in December 2021, saying they could not establish a sufficient link between Saudi money and the rail contracts (Forbes).
Spain's former king settled his tax account in two instalments, and on 2 March 2022 Supreme Court prosecutors shelved two investigations into him, Euronews reported. Prosecutors said the inquiries had recovered 5.1 million euros in fines and taxes on income Juan Carlos I had failed to declare.
The ceremony is the part where a former head of state announces the payment by lawyer's statement, instructing that lawyer from the United Arab Emirates, eldiario.es reported. The receipts are the part where the figures and the dates are on record. MissesSlay has laid them out in order below.
The other side of the ledger matters. Spain's Royal House has always avoided comment on the scandals around the emeritus king, eldiario.es noted. His lawyer says prosecutors cleared him of any conduct open to criminal reproach.
The timeline
8 June 2020: Supreme Court prosecutors take the case
El País reported that the Supreme Court public prosecutor announced an investigation into the emeritus king over suspected kickbacks tied to the AVE high-speed rail contract to Mecca. Prosecutors said the aim was to "define or dismiss the criminal relevance" of actions after June 2014, when he abdicated and lost his immunity as head of state. The report did not carry a response from Juan Carlos I.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)3 August 2020: a letter, then Abu Dhabi
RTVE reported that the Zarzuela palace said Juan Carlos I told his son Felipe VI in a letter that he would leave Spain because of the public repercussion of certain past events in his private life. His lawyer, Javier Sánchez-Junco, said he remained at the disposal of prosecutors. El País reported on 17 August that the Royal House confirmed he had moved to the United Arab Emirates on 3 August.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)3 November 2020: the card inquiry
El Nacional, citing elDiario.es, reported that anti-corruption prosecutors had opened an inquiry into credit cards charged to an account in a third party's name. The spending was in 2016, 2017 and 2018, after the abdication. Investigators were reported to have found evidence of an alleged tax offence, because the card spending would be undeclared income of more than 120,000 euros in a single year. It was not alleged that the current monarchs benefited.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)9 December 2020: 678,393.72 euros paid
Sánchez-Junco said in a statement that his client had presented a declaration to the tax authorities without prior demand, and had paid a tax debt of 678,393.72 euros including interest and surcharges. eldiario.es explained that Article 305 of Spain's Penal Code treats a taxpayer's position as regularized if debts are settled before the tax agency notifies them or prosecutors file a complaint. The Ara newspaper called the payment an admission of fraud to the public coffers; the lawyer's statement described a declaration made without prior demand. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the episode showed institutions work and the monarchy is not in danger, while Unidas Podemos called it an international embarrassment.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)25 February 2021: a second payment, 4.4 million euros
eldiario.es reported, citing El País and sources familiar with the operation, that Juan Carlos I made a second payment of 4.4 million euros to the tax agency. It was said to relate to about 8 million euros in private-jet flights paid between 2009 and 2018 by the Zagatka foundation, run by his cousin Álvaro de Orleans. Orleans has denied in interviews being a front man for the king, and said on the XRey podcast that he paid for the flights. Prosecutors' investigation was still open at that point, per eldiario.es.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)13 December 2021: Switzerland closes its file
Forbes reported that Geneva prosecutor Yves Bertossa dropped the Swiss investigation after finding no sufficient link between money sent by Saudi Arabia's former king and the rail contract. Juan Carlos I was not among the five people under investigation for money laundering in that case, Forbes said. Forbes added that Spain's Supreme Court was still investigating the payment and other tax-fraud charges at that time.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)2 March 2022: two Spanish investigations shelved
Euronews reported that Supreme Court prosecutors shelved two investigations, saying they found no evidence that could be prosecuted because any possible fraud fell outside the statute of limitations. He had also been protected by immunity until his abdication in 2014, prosecutors said. One probe involved offshore accounts in Jersey that could not currently be linked to him; the other concerned an alleged 65 million euro commission on the Saudi rail contract, where prosecutors said they could not link the gift to the project. Prosecutors said the investigations recovered 5.1 million euros in fines and taxes.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)"any illicit conduct susceptible to criminal reproach"
Euronews, describing the statement of the former king's lawyer on what prosecutors had cleared him of
So the record shows two payments, two shelved Spanish investigations and a closed Swiss file. It also shows prosecutors giving the statute of limitations and royal immunity as the reasons for shelving the Spanish inquiries. What you make of that arrangement is, as ever, your own affair.
Quick quiz · 3 questions
By the numbers
- 21 mofrom first to latest entry on record
- 10receipts behind this story
The Juan Carlos I of Spain file
- Reported
Spanish Supreme Court prosecutors shelved two investigations; they said 5.1 million euros in fines and taxes was recovered. This story
- Ruled
Geneva prosecutors dropped the Swiss probe, finding no sufficient link between Saudi funds and the rail contract, per Forbes. This story
- Reported
eldiario.es reported a second payment of 4.4 million euros to the tax agency, citing El País and sources. This story
- Admitted
His lawyer announced payment of a 678,393.72 euro tax debt after a declaration made without prior demand. This story
- Reported
Spain's Supreme Court prosecutor announced an investigation into the emeritus king over suspected rail-contract kickbacks, per El País. This story
On file: The Juan Carlos I of Spain file
The Ledger
On the record
- His lawyer announced a 678,393.72 euro tax payment on 9 December 2020, and Spanish Supreme Court prosecutors shelved two investigations on 2 March 2022 after saying they recovered 5.1 million euros in fines and taxes (Euronews).
Still rumour
- The 4.4 million euro second payment rests on eldiario.es reporting citing El País and unnamed sources; no statement confirming it appears in the documents read.
- A line-by-line breakdown of the 5.1 million euros is not given in the documents read, and no later legal development is confirmed in them.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissesSlay
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