Spain's corruption prosecutor's office has decided to close an investigation into the possible receipt of commissions in the construction in Saudi Arabia of a high-speed railroad that links Mecca and Medina. This was reported on Thursday by the El Mundo newspaper.
The amount in question was €80 million. Preliminary proceedings were launched in 2018 after an audio recording allegedly containing a conversation between Corinna Larsen, the ex-mistress of Juan Carlos I, the father of the current monarch, was made available to local media. The recordings were made by former police inspector Jose Manuel Villarejo.
According to the records, the former head of state, who abdicated in 2014, received a commission for his mediating role in negotiations with the Saudi side in order for the high-speed rail contract to go to a consortium of Spanish companies.
The tender for the construction of the Mecca-Medina railroad and the supply of rolling stock was announced in 2011, the cost of the project was € 6.7 billion. The contract was awarded to a consortium of 12 Spanish and two Saudi companies. It provided for the design and construction of the railroad for high-speed traffic, the supply of trains, as well as the operation of high-speed rail and rolling stock for 12 years.
Earlier, the prosecutor's office of Spain has stopped investigative actions related to the property of the father of the head of state Juan Carlos I. On August 3, 2020, it became officially known that the 84-year-old honorary monarch informed his son King Philip VI of the decision to leave the country. He has been in the UAE ever since.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
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Based on materials from TASS