Spain’s disgraced former king Juan Carlos I, who left Spain last August for the United Arab Emirates following on-going financial scandals, has settled another backdated tax bill worth over 4 million euros, Spanish media reported on Friday.
It was the second tax payment by the former monarch in recent months. In December he made a voluntary payment of €678,393 to the Spanish tax office, to avoid further action related to some of his financial affairs. The December payment was made in order to settle alleged illegal credit card transactions with the tax authorities, and in order to avoid being charged in an investigation and be able to return to Spain.
The new tax settlement of 4 million euros is based on 8 million euros worth of goods and services that he received, including the use of private jets, between the years 2009 and 2018, according to the reports.
Prosecutors at Spain’s Supreme Court have opened several investigations into the former monarch’s business dealings. The investigations include allegedly receiving commissions in exchange for interceding that a Spanish consortium won a contract to build a high-speed train link to the city of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia.
His son, Felipe VI, is Spain’s current head of state. Spanish monarchs have immunity during their reign but Juan Carlos’ abdication in 2014 in favour of his son potentially leaves him vulnerable to prosecution.
Juan Carlos has not been charged with any crime, and his lawyers have always insisted that he would return to Spain if required for legal reasons.
A stream of revelations about the former king’s love life, his affair with Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and lavish lifestyle, combined with the 2018 conviction of his son-in-law for tax fraud and embezzlement, have severely damaged the Spanish Monarchy.
Since ascending to the throne in 2014, Felipe VI has since taken steps to improve the royal family’s image, such as imposing a ‘code of conduct’ on royals. Last year he also stripped his father of his annual allowance of nearly 200,000 euros, following further details of allegedly shady financial dealings.
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