Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S former king Juan Carlos is being sued for alleged tax offences by a group of retired judges.
Prosecutors closed three probes into his finances back in 2022 due to insufficient evidence and the statute of limitations, but said several irregularities had been found.
Among them were lucrative gifts from Gulf Arab monarchies and private trips funded by a foundation based in Liechtenstein.
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The complainants say a court rather than public prosecutors must decide if Juan Carlos fulfilled his tax obligations.
Juan Carlos, 86, has made two payments worth more than €5 million to the Tax Authority to settle money owed on undeclared income, which was widely seen as a bid to avoid charges.
His regularisation of income declarations from 2014 to 2018 ‘were not done in accordance with the law’, former Supreme Court judge Jose Antonio Martin Pallin told broadcaster TVE on Monday.
“We do not have the slightest interest in prison sentences being applied, but the harshest possible fine should be imposed”, he added.
Legal experts, philosophers and journalists were also among the complainants, Pallin said, without specifying their number.
Juan Carlos enjoyed widespread admiration for his role in Spain’s transition to democracy following the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975.
But the revelations about the origins of his fortune since his abdication in 2014 have damaged his reputation.
He went moved to Abu Dhabi in 2020.
