|
High court judge Baltasar Garzon has blocked accounts with a total of 2.2 bln eur after raiding the offices of Banco Espirito Santo, BNP Paribas, investment fund Cartera Meridional and insurer Cahispa yesterday, ABC reported citing judicial sources.
ABC cited the sources as saying that officers from Spain's civil guard and its inland revenue service raided the offices of the four institutions after detecting irregularities in the funds.
The sources said that it is too early to determine whether the funds are related to money laundering or tax evasion, but noted that they have been frozen in order to ascertain the origin and the movements of the capital blocked.
They also said the authorities are investigating whether the institutions affected have created financial instruments to promote tax evasion or money laundering or whether the crime was committed by the clients themselves.
Media differed this morning as to how much money has been blocked, with El Mundo and Cinco Dias claiming that funds totalling 1.5 bln eur have been frozen.
|
