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Spain's
king renounces inheritance and cuts father's income over 'offshore fund'
Royal
household responds after report named King Felipe as a beneficiary of an
alleged offshore fund set up by his father in 2008
Ashifa
Kassam in Madrid
@ashifa_k
Mon 16 Mar
2020 00.07 GMTLast modified on Mon 16 Mar 2020 14.09 GMT
Spain’s
King Felipe VI has renounced his personal inheritance from his father and
stripped the former king Juan Carlos of his annual stipend after it was alleged
that Felipe VI was poised to receive millions of euros from a secret offshore
fund with ties to Saudi Arabia.
The
statement issued by Spain’s royal household on Sunday evening came after a
report named King Felipe as a beneficiary of an offshore fund set up by his
father in 2008. At the time, Juan Carlos was still in power.
The former
head of state abdicated in 2014, after a series of scandals sent his popularity
plummeting. Juan Carlos, 82, had continued to receive an annual stipend from
the state, however, amounting to around €194,000 (£175,000) in 2018.
The alleged
offshore account, named as the Lucum Foundation, held around €65m in funds that
were described as a “donation” from “the king of Saudi Arabia”, according to
the Sunday Telegraph. The account was set up at an office in Panama city and
tied to an account with Geneva’s Mirabaud private bank, the report added.
An
investigation by Swiss prosecutors into another offshore fund allegedly tied to
Juan Carlos, named Fondation Zagatka, sparked calls this month for Spain’s
parliament to investigate the business dealings of the former king. The push
was rejected by Spain’s Socialists and the two main parties on the right, who
argued that any such probe would be unconstitutional.
According
to newspaper La Tribune de Genève, prosecutors believe the fund could be linked
to kickback payments after the former monarch helped to broker business deals
with Saudi Arabia while in power.
On Sunday,
the statement by the Royal household noted that King Felipe became aware last
year of claims that he was the beneficiary of the Lucum Foundation and
subsequently swore before a notary public that he had told his father that he
was renouncing any benefit from the fund. King Felipe denied any knowledge of
being a beneficiary of the Zagatka fund.
Neither
King Felipe nor his household had any knowledge, participation or
responsibility in the alleged events, the statement noted. The statement also
includes a note from the former king, stating that he had never told his son
that he was the beneficiary of the two funds.
The former
king had been informed of his son’s decision to renounce his inheritance as
well as “any asset, investment or financial structure whose origin,
characteristic or purpose may not be in accordance with the law or with the
rectitude and integrity” of the crown, the statement added.
Since
taking the throne, Felipe has fought hard to regain the royal family’s footing
and move past the calls for a referendum on the monarchy that greeted his
proclamation. The task was made more difficult after his sister, the Infanta
Cristina, was caught up in a financial scandal involving her husband, the
former Olympic handball player Iñaki Urdangarín.
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