Spanish king’s aunt admits to owning company named in Panama Papers

Pilar de Borbón, King Felipe VI’s aunt, on Wednesday admitted to ownership of a company in Panama between 1974 and 2014.

The sister of former monarch Juan Carlos said that the business, which she owned jointly with her husband, never had any revenues “outside the control of tax authorities” and that it never failed to comply with “any obligation required by Spanish tax legislation.”

The media statement comes several days after the Panama Papers first came to light

In a statement issued to the news agency Europa Press, Pilar de Borbón said that the company was dissolved because it did not have enough resources to justify its upkeep.

The media had reported that Pilar de Borbón headed Delantera Financiera SA since August 1974, and that the company was dissolved only five days after Felipe VI’s coronation in June 2014. The Wednesday statement says that it was “simply erroneous” to link both events.

The media statement comes several days after the so-called Panama Papers came to light. This global investigation by more than 100 news organizations exposes how a law firm called Mossack Fonseca helped heads of state and government, business figures, sports stars, actors and other celebrities set up offshore firms that authorities suspect may have been used in some cases for tax evasion, money laundering and other financial offenses.

In Spain, tax authorities are investigating citizens whose names cropped up in the leaked files, including the filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, who has just canceled the presentation of his new movie because of the media fallout from the case.

English version by Susana Urra.