FRENCH police have been ordered to track down one of Europe’s wealthiest aristocrats over a fraud involving hundreds of British pensioners.
Baron David de Rothschild has been indicted over the allegations after the victims, mostly expats living in Spain, bought into his loan scheme.
The banking magnate will now be questioned in his native France, five years after a Marbella-based law firm began legal action against him.
French police have been told by a judge in Paris to track down the wealthy scion who has various homes in the country.
The case involves his company, the Rothschild Financial Services Group, which stands accused of falsely advertising an equity release loan scheme, bought into by more than 130 pensioners between 2005 and 2008.
More than 20 British pensioners in Spain took up legal action against Rothschild’s company after losing their dream properties and thousands of euros.
Paris-based liaison judge Javier Gómez Bermudez – famous for his role in prosecuting the Madrid bombers – announced the summons this week after the Denia Court issued the order.
The Baron is believed to be staying at his Normandy castle, or near to his Paris offices, and lawyers have provided state prosecutors in France with two possible addresses to find him.
Marbella-based lawyer Antonio Flores of Lawbird said the indictment was a ‘breakthrough moment’ in the case.
“It is a good step in the right direction,” Flores told The Olive Press. “The courts are now in agreement with us that there is enough evidence to interrogate Baron Rothschild.
“The first thing they will have to do is find him. Once they have done that they can begin to question him.
“It is a real breakthrough moment for everyone involved.”
Rothschild’s product, the Credit Select Series Mortgage Loan, was sold to pensioners as a legal means to reduce the value of their homes for inheritance tax mitigation purposes.
The Tax Agency ruled that such a scheme constitutes fraud and Flores believes that Rothschild should be held accountable.
“In short, independently of what happened to the investment, Rothschild advertised a loan aimed at reducing inheritance tax, which is a breach of tax law,” he said.
Flores, and two other prosecuting lawyers, will submit questions for Rothschild in relation to fraudulent advertising.
The Rothschild Group has so far failed to comment.
He will get away with it
I guess not in my backyard is better than nothing. His crimes against humanity are a billion times worse than this. In my dreams France would liberate the wealth of the world he and his cronies siphoned from the people, through these crimes, and use it to bring justice to the world. One can still dream, right?
Spot on, sir!
Oh, come on now. A banker involved with fraud? I’m not buying it.
There are no reports of this in France/French Press. Where did you get this info from? Thanks.
Hi Iohra,
We spoke with the lawyer involved in the case who is quoted in the article.
Hi Rob ; i translated your article on a “anti banks” french blog : https://susauxbanques.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/le-baron-de-rothschild-accuse-dans-une-affaire-de-fraude-fiscale-organisee/
Thanks Rob.
Is indictment the correct word here? I am not familiar with Spanish (or French) law, but it sounds like a court order was issued to enforce a subpoena in a civil lawsuit. In America (and other English common law-based systems) we would only use the word indictment in a criminal action (initiated by government prosecutors).
Can you clarify?
The Rothschilds own the press, so of course it would not be known. Why do you think that so many have never even heard of the Rothschilds, a family worth 400 trillion.
500 trillion +
“There are no reports in the French Press!” You do know who owns the worlds press and Reuters and Associated Press? Clue – Family name, begins with an “R”. And for good measure they also own Charlie Hebdo.
Receiving a loan and putting the revenue on a bank account does not make you less wealthy. If you hide the amount for the tax people, you could well be breaking some tax-law. But it is the borrower who brakes the law. Not necessarily the lender. Only if the lender knowingly assists in illigal hiding of the money, could the lender also be held accountable.
In my opinion, it’s ridiculous for a claim to be made like this, with absolutely no evidence provided alongside it, other than a claim by the author to have spoken to the lawyer mentioned in the article. I’m not a fan of the Rothschild’s, but frankly this article sounds like somebody’s fantasy to me. Please prove me wrong with some sort of real piece of evidence, other than assuming that this must be true if major news sources aren’t reporting on it. It’s possible, but think about the big glaring gaps in this story, and demand to have all the information needed to form real ‘facts’.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for commenting. The lawyer quoted – who is working on the case – provided us with court documents to support the story.