Imogen Calderwood
A LEADING Marbella lawyer has accused the town mayor of tax evasion.
Antonio Flores insisted that her investment in an offshore equity release fund was a way to avoid paying fiscal obligations.
Maria Angeles Munoz had accused Flores, of Lawbird, of libel and ‘professional misconduct’ following allegations that she failed to properly declare a €3.1 million investment abroad.
The town hall’s legal team has lodged a complaint against Flores with the Law Society of Marbella.
“The Law Society has no power against us because it is a dispute between two private parties. The mayor is not a client and we have no legal relationship, so there is no ethical issue here,” insisted Flores.
When asked why the mayor had not gone to court, Flores said that a court hearing ‘causes a stir, and there is a lot of paper work’.
He alleged that the town hall have instead opted for ‘a dirty way to tarnish the image of a lawyer’.
Flores repeated his allegations that the equity release mortgage taken out by Munoz and her Swedish husband Lars Broberg with Swiss bank Nordea, via a joint company, is set up to avoid the 34% inheritance tax.
According to Flores’ explanation of the product, Nordea Bank is dedicated to international tax planning.
“Their goal is to help people, in a way that is more or less legal, to have to pay less tax,” he told the assembled press.
“In Spain they offer a product that, according to what their advertising says, is to legally avoid inheritance tax.”
Flores refused to retract his statements against the mayor and reminded her that, as she allegedly told eldiario.es, her reason for taking out the mortgage was ‘precisely to deal with inheritance tax’.
Flores concluded: “She has a relatively high salary, but it is not enough to be able to cover certain expenditures that she has made. She has to clarify this.”
Is it legal or illegal for people trying to avoid inheritance tax. I think most people over the threshold limit would seek advice on this matter, so it’s interesting to see the outcome in Spanish law.
I thought you had a financial advisor for all your “millions” Caccia, so why are you asking?
If there is a tax, then of course it’s illegal to avoid it. Tax planning and mitigation is another matter of course lol.
Dear Olive Press, please note, Nordea is a Swedish bank.