Financial Crime World

Andorra’s Banca Privada d’Andorra: A Case of False Allegations and Political Conspiracy?

Background

In March 2015, the US Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) accused Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA) of being a foreign financial institution of primary money laundering concern. This designation led to the intervention and closure of BPA and its Spanish subsidiary, Banco Madrid.

FinCEN’s Allegations

  • BPA was one of Andorra’s largest and fastest-growing banks.
  • FinCEN accused the bank of facilitating expansive money-laundering operations involving organized crime figures in Russia, Venezuela, Spain, and China.
  • These allegations referred to matters that BPA had previously addressed, and the Andorran authorities were aware of.
  • Despite these allegations, BPA was not given a chance to respond before the publication of the notice.

Evidence of False Allegations

Case 1: Venezuelan Money Launderers

  • BPA reported cases of Venezuelan money launderers who deposited corrupt proceeds in BPA accounts to the Andorran authorities in 2012.
  • The Andorran authorities were investigating these accounts.
  • After two years, the customers passed due diligence analysis, and the accounts were unfrozen.
  • None of the other banks involved detected any irregularities.

Case 2: Chinese Businessman Gao PING and Spanish Associate Rafael PALLARDÓ

  • BPA dropped PALLARDÓ as a client when it expanded to Spain due to his past tax evasion activities.
  • FinCEN’s notice states that BPA reinstated PALLARDÓ, but there is no evidence to support this claim.
  • PALLARDÓ had accounts in other Andorran banks and was mentioned in reports submitted to the Andorran National Institute of Finances (INAF).

Political Conspiracy

Operation Catalonia

  • Former Spanish police commissioner José Manuel VILLAREJO claims that the targeting of BPA was part of a wider political conspiracy known as “Operation Catalonia.”
  • Spanish authorities sent information to the US Treasury Department to close the bank if it did not reveal information about the accounts of Catalan politicians.

Meeting between MIQUEL and BARROSO

  • A meeting between Joan Pau MIQUEL, CEO of BPA, and Spanish Interior attaché Celestino BARROSO in 2014 seemed to confirm this theory.
  • BARROSO warned MIQUEL that Spain’s central bank planned to take over BPA unless it complied with the Spanish government’s demands.

Letter from MARTÍNEZ to CIERCO

  • In November 2020, Spain’s former Minister of the Interior and Secretary of State for Security, Francisco MARTÍNEZ, sent a letter to BPA shareholder Higini CIERCO.
  • In the letter, MARTÍNEZ alleged that authorities in Spain, Andorra, and the US conspired to provoke the involvement of BPA in the investigation of certain personalities’ hidden fortunes.
  • He argued that there was no evidence of criminal actions at the origin of the intervention procedure.

Conclusion

  • Despite FinCEN’s allegations, BPA has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Spanish courts.
  • New evidence suggests that the targeting of BPA and Banco Madrid may be part of a wider political conspiracy orchestrated by the Spanish and Andorran governments to expose the financial affairs of Catalan separatist politicians.
  • BPA’s shareholders are still fighting for justice.