The Treasury uncovers the Montoro case operation to erase the trace of payments
The Tax Agency concludes that the office of the then Minister of Finance received 800,000 euros from the gas companies investigated for changing laws
Madrid / BarcelonaThe investigation into Cristóbal Montoro has reached the courts of Tarragona. A 249-page report from the Tax Agency, to which ARA has had access, details the operation through which gas companies paid Equipo Económico, the firm founded by Montoro, who was Minister of Finance at the time, in exchange for influencing the processing and approval of tax reforms in the Congress of Deputies. They established "three initial layers." First, the total amount agreed upon was divided among different payers. Then, the amount corresponding to each company was broken down into "small amounts" to make it more difficult to trace. And finally, the payment was made into at least "two different bank accounts." But there's more. It was Equipo Económico that insisted on the fragmentation of the payments, which took place with a deferral under the formal guise of a "success bonus" to distance them from their true origin. In total, the Spanish Tax Agency estimates that gas companies paid €812,533.76 to the investigated firm between 2011 and 2019 in installments, following the described procedure. According to the document, the gas companies that made the most payments were those belonging to the Association of Manufacturers of Industrial and Medical Gases (AFGIM), and among them, Praxair made the largest payments.
Recurring Payments
The document also warns that this practice "could be replicated" with other income from payers other than gas companies. Why is this believed? Because it has identified "recurring payments" of identical amounts, including "amounts identical" to those paid by the gas companies. This leads to the conclusion that the identical amounts "would remunerate equivalent services" according to a "potential price list by type of product offered" by Equipo Económico. For example, between 2012 and 2019, the investigated firm received more than 320 payments of €12,100, more than 40 payments of €36,300, and more than 50 payments of €18,150.
€35 million
The Spanish Tax Agency has analyzed the total monetary flow generated between 2008 and 2013 by Equipo Económico. This represents a total income of 35 million euros, broken down into 2,100 transactions. According to the report, some of these payments came from the gas companies under investigation, which were clients of Montoro's firm, where they promoted legal changes that benefited them. The report also includes recurring transfers of similar amounts from various suppliers. Who were the ultimate beneficiaries of the funds collected by Equipo Económico? According to the Tax Agency, they were its successor, Global Afteli, and its partners, former partners, and spouses, as well as a network of companies linked to them. However, since it has been unable to access many of the bank accounts of those involved, many of which are abroad, it is requesting new court orders and letters rogatory from the judge to clarify the final destination of all this money.
