Nordea Bank S.A.’s Marbella Representation Office has been busy ‘transferring’ millions of Euros worth of Spanish property to Luxembourg, a tax haven in the heart of Europe. The scheme, know as the ‘Managed Capital Plan’, consists in a ordinary mortgage loan offered by Nordea on their unencumbered homes and the investment of the loan in Luxembourg.
Now, for the first time, those millions of Euros worth of tax evading mortgage loans (according to the Spanish Tax Office) have an owner.
ERVA has had access to a list of property owners in the Marbella area who bought into the Nordea’s scheme. The list was provided to ERVA from a confidential source and has been compiled by accessing Marbella public land registries.
The list includes Marbella property owners who bought into the scheme, for how much and when. It also establishes the date when the property was bought, as opposed to when the loan was taken. One notable client of Nordea is the current Mayor of Marbella, María Ángeles Muñoz, who alogside her husband took out a loan against their company Crasel Panorámica S.L. The disclosure of the information became a regional scandal.
By publishing this list, ERVA does not attribute the commission of a crime or a civil wrong to any of the people and companies, but does wish to issue a warning:
The Spanish Tax Authorities have stated that using mortgage loans, not invested in the purchase of property, for the purpose of reducing the taxable value of the property with respect to Inheritance Tax and Wealth Tax, as Nordea’s Managed Capital Plan formula promised, is Tax Fraud.
List of Owners, Properties, Date of Purchase of Property and Date of Mortgage Loan.
Important Note: The Spanish Data Protection Agency, in a ruling of the 20/12/2006, has stated that the publication of data obtained from Land Registry sources in a TV programme is legally valid and protected by article 20 of the Spanish Constitution and the Mortgage Act.
What a long list this is. I see that it mentions the Marbella area only, the majority of names being of Scandinavian origin and dating back some 15 years. Can it be said that other regions such as Alicante would produce a similar long list of names and if so I wonder how much money is involved. Tens of millions I presume. If so the Spanish Tax Ministry could be missing out on huge sums of tax. The problem is, who is culpable the individuals who took out the loans, even though they were most likely told that the scheme would diminish their tax liability, be it the yearly wealth tax payable to the Spanish authorities or the eventual Inheritance tax. Surely the responsibility lies with Nordea Bank, who sold these schemes on the pretext that there would be huge tax savings. Is this enticement to commit tax fraud. What about money laundering, is this not the same thing? No doubt with the intending investigation by the Marbella criminal court Into the alleged criminal activities of Nordea will bring matters to a head and clear up the wrong doing.
Depends where the banks and fund operators are registered/ based.
If in a shadowy offshore fiscal paradise then the regulatory authorities of these places will claim that it is not the fault of the bank but the fault of the people who sold the products in the jurisdiction where the alleged fraud was committed. In other words they pass responsibility to the cowboys who were hawking these rubbish products in Spain – Henry Woods, Dewsnip, Wilson and the rest who then promptly disappear into thin air.
Having just read the Rothschild post, the same must apply, cetainly in the case of Marbella. II find it incredible to see all these people who own property in the Marbella area who were later conned by non other that Jesper ( the clown) Hertz in to taking out equity release mortgages for the purpose of evading Inheritance & Wealth Taxes. I only hope that these posts are being picked up by the people involved and have complained to the bank or the CSSF ( Luxembourg ) If not contact Antonio Flores of Lawbird Legal Services Marbella. From what I have read he has 1 criminal complaint accepted in the Marbella Court and several cases coming to trial in March in the Mercantile Court Malaga.