Juan Carlos with late King Abdullah
4 August 2020
Switzerland’s La Tribune de Geneve newspaper reported that Juan Carlos received $100 million from Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah, in connection with a high-speed rail contract in Saudi Arabia. After this publication, Supreme Court of Spain opened an investigation into the alleged bribery, in June this year.
The former monarch of Spain, King Juan Carlos I, announced that he would be leaving the country while corruption investigations are going on. He also said that he will be available to cooperate with the investigations. He took this decision in order not to make his son’s role difficult. He did not say which country he will be moving to.
King Felipe thanked his father for his decision. He also reaffirmed that he will uphold the principles and values on which the democracy is based according to our Constitution and legal framework of Spain.
The 82-year-old former king is credited with helping Spain peacefully restore democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. But the later years of his reign were marred by scandals. In 2014 abdicated in favour of his son Felipe VI and as a result he lost the inviolability protection that Spain’s constitution grants to the head of state.
Felipe renounced any future personal inheritance he might receive from his father, after media reports alleged that King Felipe was a beneficiary of an offshore account holding an alleged gift $76 million from Saudi Arabia to Juan Carlos.
Felipe also stripped his father of his annual stipend of $228,000.
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