Located between Spain and France, the Principality of Andorra is home to two heads of state, Bishop Urgel of Catalonia, Spain, and the President of France.
It is a hot spot for tourists, particularly famous for skiing, and is self-governing with a population of just under 90,000, but is not a member of the European Union or Schengen.
The banking section has tax haven status, which attracted a large number of investments, but according to one particular research group, there is a major financial scandal that has previously been largely ignored by mainstream media.
Andorra government accused of financial fraud in collaboration with Spain and the US
The Andrang government has been reportedly spending nearly a decade investigating investments made in the country and following information received from the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FINCEN).
It is allegedly been pursued by three different authorities in their own political agenda. The US was aiming to crack down on anticipated international money laundering. Spain was working on Catalan feelings of independence. Andhra then tried to protect the elite from anti-corruption investigations.
At the event, despite the BPA closure, no convictions have been proven about alleged money laundering, and over the past decade, Fincen has retracted that claim, and BPA and its directors have been exonerated by Spanish authorities.
What further complicates the situation is the fact that, in the wake of Andorran’s government’s intervention in the BPA, authorities transferred the bank’s “good” assets to Vall Banc, a newly formed entity that was later sold to US company JC Flowers for up to 29 million euros. The state has absorbed more than 100 million euros losses from BPA as part of the process. Additionally, it is reportedly paid 30 million euros to auditing company PWC to review the account owner. These transactions raise serious questions about whether funds seized from the BPA are still unharmed or have already been paid, thereby giving Andorran authorities a financial incentive to delay compensation or maintain open-ended investigations of depositors.
Andorra government accused of financial misconduct by investors who lost money to launch a lawsuit
In light of these orchestrations, it is clear that Andorra follows its own policy direction and that the funds seized are being prepared by a large number of investors who have not been returned as the lawsuit seeks to recover the losses.
Representatives of these investors further allege that the Andran government is permanently investigating these foreign investors as a means of seizing their assets, with victims facing prison threats, counterfeit arrest warrants and red notices from Interpol.
Gibraltar, which resides on the other end of the Iberian Peninsula, is regularly accused of being the heart of money laundering that the Spanish government has never proven, but it appears that Spain has a policy of turning a blind eye to the irregularities that could occur in Andorra!
