Emails implicate former king in Barcelona tax fraud investigation

The former king of Spain, Juan Carlos I, has been implicated in an ongoing tax fraud investigation in a Barcelona court. 

Two emails received in 2014 by the King Emeritus' ex-lover, Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, have hinted at alleged tax fraud between 2014 and 2018, concerning a supposed capital increase of €1.3 million. 

According to Spanish online newspaper El Confidencial, the money was used to pay for medical care, destined to Juan Carlos' personal doctor, Manuel Sánchez. 

The payments would have been in the form of capital increases to avoid paying taxes and because the money was of "irregular origin." 

It is alleged the emails were sent to zu Sayn-Wittgenstein in November 2014 by a friend of the former king, the Cuban Pepe Fanjul, after a secret meeting in London between Juan Carlos, Fanjul and the Mexican businessman Allen Sanginés-Krause. 

Financial controversies 

Juan Carlos abdicated the Spanish throne in 2014, losing the immunity enshrined in the Spanish constitution, and has been mired in various financial scandals over the past number of years. 

Spain's ex-king left for the United Arab Emirates last August to protect the image of the monarchy, embodied by his son Felipe VI. 

Under scrutiny for his alleged role in a scheme involving payments from Saudi Arabia and a bank account in Switzerland, Juan Carlos did not explicitly cite his legal troubles in a farewell letter to his son, but instead referred to them rather as "personal matters."

In February 2021 he paid almost €4.4m in 2021 for previously undeclared income relating to flights on a private jet. 

Spain's Tax agency opened a new investigation into the former king's hunting trips in June 2022.