Nina Chausow
THE former boss of disgraced bank Bankia has been accused of laundering money through a network of German and English businesses.
The tax authorities insist Rodrigo Rato, an ex-government minister, used a number of companies to move money around.
Rato, who also formerly led the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is now to face a further money laundering probe.
The National Office of Fraud Investigation has discovered links between Bagerpleta GmbH, a German hotel proprietor of which Rato is a trustee, and Kradonara SL, the sister company to the Rato-owned British business Vivaway Ltd.
Investigators suspect that the money invested by Kradonara into Bagerpleta came from illegal origins.
The Madrid judge in charge of the case has requested that the case now be transferred to Spain’s highest court, the Audiencia Nacional, which has jurisdiction both in Spain and abroad.
The Audiencia Nacional already has two cases open against Rato for his mismanagement of Caja Madrid and Bankia, as well as one regarding the so-called ‘black cards’ corruption scandal.
