Andorra’s Prime Minister sued for fraud, influence peddling and waste of public funds over handling of BPA case
Higini Cierco, the former majority shareholder of Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA), has filed a criminal complaint in the Andorran Tribunal De Corts – Court of First Instance – against the Head of Government of Andorra Xavier Espot Zamora for “fraud, influence peddling and waste of public funds
The complaint refers to the role that Espot played in the intervention and dissolution of BPA during his time as Minister of Justice (2011-2019) and Prime Minister (2019-present). It states that Espot, “due to the functions he performed in 2015 and for those he has been performing for the past four years, knew and knows first-hand what was deliberated and is being deliberated within the government; therefore he is responsible for certain decisions, actions or omissions, (...) that may constitute criminal offences.”
It alleges, that:
The government “had advance knowledge of the events and the deadly blow that was being prepared against BPA.”
The claim refers to the government contract awarded to an Andorran law firm to prepare a bill (AREB law, which became known as Lex BPA) that would permit the government to take over BPA. The timings and speed of the drafting of the law suggest that the government knew about the notice before March 2015.
It questions an amendment made by the government to the AREB law that exonerated from amortization and recapitalization shareholders who had less than 10% of the capital of BPA. This “arbitrary and discriminatory exception” put more pressure on the majority shareholders, but benefitted Espot’s Zamora-Bonet family, which “may constitute a crime of influence peddling.” Anna Maria Zamora Bonet, Espot’s aunt, was a shareholder and board member of BPA but owned less than 10%.
It reasserts that BPA complied with all of Andorra’s banking regulations and had informed the Andorran authorities about the cases that were later mentioned in the FinCEN’s notice which ultimately led to the dissolution of the bank. The Andorran authorities raised no concerns about these cases.
It requests that the Andorran court order the government to release their communications with FinCEN/US Treasury.
This article is adapted from an article originally published in Altaveu on 22 November 2022.