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Corrupt Spanish lawyer arrested for EUR 4.5 million fishery project bribe in Equatorial Guinea

EUROPEAN UNION
Monday, August 12, 2024, 03:00 (GMT + 9)

 Europol supports Spanish National Police investigation resulting in seizure of real estate and bank accounts worth over EUR 6.5 million

 The Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) have arrested a lawyer suspected of corrupting high-level officials close to the Equatorial Guinea government. Europol supported this investigation, which uncovered that the suspect had transferred around EUR 4.5 million via his project development company. Allegedly, the aim was to obtain an agreement to build a factory catering to the African country’s fishing sector.

Law enforcement conducted two house searches on the action day, which took place in Asturias (Spain) on 2 July 2024 and led to the lawyer’s arrest. Five pieces of real estate valued EUR 4.5 million were seized, along with EUR 30 000 in cash and 21 bank accounts containing over EUR 2 million.

A suspiciously dormant project

The suspect’s company, which was registered in Spain, had reported hardly any commercial activity since its establishment. It had never developed any project, neither in Spain nor in any other country. However, between 2020 and 2022 the company reported two income streams for a total amount of over EUR 4.5 million. Further investigation showed that individuals close to the Equatorial Guinea government were among the beneficiaries of these sums.

These payments were related to a contract signed in 2019 between the government of the African country and the Spanish company in order to start up a fishery products processing plant. Originally, the project was supposed to be completed within two years of the signing. The lawyer and owner of the company is now charged with corruption, money laundering, falsification of accounts and forgery of documents.

Europol’s role

Using SIENA (Secure Information Exchange Network Application), Spanish authorities shared their first insights with Europol, who then provided analytical support. On the action day, two Europol analysts supported the searches in Spain with a Virtual Command Post that had been set up in Europol’s headquarters in The Hague. Offering real-time operational support, the experts cross-checked the results of the house searches in Spain against Europol’s databases, thus providing further leads to the officers on the spot.

Corruption is an insidious and often invisible threat, eroding the rule of law, weakening state institutions, and hindering economic development by distorting fair competition. You can read more about how Europol supports the fight against corruption in the European Financial and Economic Crime Threat Assessment 2023.

At the close of this publication, the names of those involved or the companies have not been given since more arrests are expected in an operation that Europol kept secret.

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