Falciani’s list includes tycoons, ex-soccer player and suspected doping doctor
Spanish prosecutors file scores of tax evasion cases based on documents taken from HSBC
From real estate moguls and former soccer players, to doctors and decorators, there are 659 Spanish names contained in a database taken from HSBC by former employee Hervé Falciani and given to the Spanish authorities, who have since opened tax investigations into these alleged holders of Swiss bank accounts.
The treasury said it hopes to collect some 260 million euros in back taxes once it settles these cases.
Banco Santander chairman Emilio Botín, along with members of his family, is perhaps the most famous Spaniard who popped up on Falciani’s list. Botín maintained that he never knew that a Swiss account existed because it belonged to his father, who opened it some time during the Spanish Civil War. Nonetheless, he agreed before the High Court to make a 200-million euro payment to the Treasury to settle back taxes and charges against the family were dropped.
According to a case search by EL PAÍS, there are scores of investigations before different courts across the country against people who reportedly appear in Falciani’s database. They include Manuel La Hernández, a prominent businessman; art dealer Miguel Fernández-Braso Fernandez; former soccer player Gustavo Dario Crnko; Dr Eufemiano Fuentes Rodríguez, the sports physician who is facing charges in the anti-doping “Operation Puerto” case; and Anne-Marie Abadie, the owner of an interior decorating firm.
