Spanish tax agents raid ex-IMF chief Rodrigo Rato’s home amid money laundering probe
Rato has already been questioned on suspicion of fraud in an ongoing probe into the stock market launch of bailed-out lender Bankia, which he once chaired.
Spanish tax office agents yesterday searched the Madrid home of former IMF head Rodrigo Rato, who has already been charged in two graft cases, as part of a new money-laundering probe.
Spain’s state prosecutor ordered the searches as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering, fraud and asset stripping, a source close to the investigation said.
Police escorted Rato, a former economy minister with Spain’s ruling conservative party, out of his apartment building in an upscale neighbourhood in central Madrid after searching his flat for nearly four hours.
They took him to his nearby office, which was also searched, before driving him back to his flat just after midnight.
Spanish media reported the probe could be centred on an alleged payment of 6.2 million euros (HK$51.4 million) which investment bank Lazard made to Rato in 2011, several years after he worked for the firm as an adviser.
Rato, a former stalwart of Spain’s ruling Popular Party who has since been expelled from the group, has already been questioned on suspicion of fraud in an ongoing probe into the stock market launch of bailed-out lender Bankia, which he once chaired.