Mallorca financier faces judge over 53 million euros aid
Simon Leendert Verhoeven, a Dutch financier based on Mallorca, is due before a judge at Spain’s National Court on Friday after his arrest in Germany. He has been taken to Soto del Real prison in Madrid under a strictly precautionary, temporary detention order. Judge José Luis Calama is investigating his alleged role in the Plus Ultra case, centred on 53 million euros in state aid paid to the airline in March 2021 during the pandemic.
Claims over money transfers
Calama says there are reasonable grounds to investigate Verhoeven over suspected misappropriation of funds, influence peddling, money laundering and membership of a criminal organisation.
Investigators allege that he used his business structure to move money from abroad to Plus Ultra through purported investment or loan contracts. They also suspect he helped provide cover for the production of false invoices through several international companies.
The inquiry examines an alleged money-laundering network operating in Spain, France and Switzerland. Investigators say money received in the airline’s accounts was allegedly sent on to three companies linked to Verhoeven, then to opaque bank accounts in Gibraltar, Switzerland, Montenegro, the United Kingdom and Mauritius.
Gold bars and jewellery seized on Mallorca
Last October, officers from the National Police’s Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit searched Verhoeven’s home on Mallorca. They seized luxury watches, chokers, necklaces and earrings.
Police also took two 100-gram gold bars and a 50-gram silver bar, along with a ring, pendant and feline-shaped earrings. Friday’s hearing follows Verhoeven’s transfer to Spain from Germany.
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Topics: Court cases · Police · Traffic · Politics
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com