Spain: ex-King Juan Carlos targeted for corruption investigation in Saudi Arabia

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Juan Carlos 1er, 82, who was the head of state until June 2014, could very well be criminally prosecuted for having hit large commissions after a high-speed train contract in Saudi Arabia in 2011. The Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court has indeed decided to take this case into consideration, an essential preamble at the criminal stage. It would be a first.

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With our correspondent in Madrid, François Musseau

The former Spanish monarch Juan Carlos, who had been designated by the dictator Franco, sees the judicial vice tightening on him. An accusation has been hanging against him for months, namely that he would have received $ 80 million from the Saudi authorities in connection with a huge high-speed train contract between Riyadh and Medina in 2011.

According to a recording made by a former police commissioner, this money would have passed through Switzerland and fed one of the accounts of a certain Corina Larsen, a former friend of the Spanish emeritus king. According to the prosecution, this person was used by Juan Carlos to manage this fortune.

It turns out that these supposed embezzlement would have taken place after June 2014, the date of the king's abdication in favor of his son Philippe VI. However, since then, Juan Carlos is no longer head of state and no longer enjoys any immunity from justice. It remains to be seen whether the prosecution will go further and prosecute the former monarch.

The anti-monarchic party Podemos for its part applauded this decision. Right-wing parties, on the other hand, believe that the King Emeritus should not be prosecuted.

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• Spain
• Justice
• Juan Carlos