Pandora Papers Reveal Ex King Juan Carlos Link

The publication by the Washington based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) of a huge cache of confidential data, named the Pandora Papers, has brought a spotlight on the shadowy world of international offshore tax avoidance.

Some 11.9 million files have are now seeing the light of day and exposing some of the world´s richest and most influencial people to some unwanted attention.

Among the list of thousands of offshore companies and trusts are nearly 700 with links to Spain.

You can inspect the Pandora Papers Spain list here.

Among the hundreds listed, is the King Emeritus Juan Carlos, who was listed as a beneficiary of a trust controlled by his former friend Corinna Larsen.

The papers reveal that in the event of her death he was to have received a 30% share of an Hispanic – Saudi fund.

The king´s friendship with the London based socialite came to light following an accident while they were both on a hunting trip to Botswana. The subsequent fallout was one of the reasons behind his abdication in favour of his son Felipe, in 2014.

The abdication did little to halt his fall from grace as his financial affairs came more and a matter of speculation – much of which was linked to her as a conduit for supposed kickbacks for his involvement in securing the Spanish consortium´s winning bid to build a high speed rail link in Saudi Arabia.

This in turn led to him being investigated in Spain and Switzerland for financial irregularities.

In 2020 the king went into self imposed exile as the Spanish monarchy sought to limit the reputational damage to its name.

Earlier this year, Larsen began legal action in the High Court in London, seeking damages from the former king.

His elder sister, the late Pilar de Borbón, was also implicated in tax avoidance through her directorship of a Panama registered company in the previously published Panama Papers.