A Spanish lawyer has been arrested for allegedly corrupting high-ranking officials in Equatorial Guinea through a €4.5 million bribe intended to secure a contract for a fishery project.
The arrest followed an investigation by the Spanish National Police, supported by Europol. This then also led to the seizure of real estate and bank accounts worth over €6.5 million.
Investigation
The investigation focused on the lawyer’s company, which was registered in Spain but had minimal commercial activity since its establishment. Despite its inactivity, the company reported receiving over €4.5 million between 2020 and 2022. This income was linked to a 2019 contract between the company and the Equatorial Guinea government for the construction of a fishery products processing plant.
Arrest and seizures
On 2 July 2024, law enforcement conducted two house searches in Asturias, Spain, leading to the lawyer’s arrest. Moreover, authorities seized five properties valued at €4.5 million, €30,000 in cash, and 21 bank accounts holding over €2 million. Furthermore, the suspect is now facing charges of corruption, money laundering, falsification of accounts, and forgery of documents.
Europol’s role
Europol provided critical support throughout the investigation. Using the Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA), Spanish authorities initially shared insights with Europol. On the day of the operation, two Europol analysts assisted Spanish law enforcement through a Virtual Command Post set up at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague. This support included real-time cross-checking of search results against Europol’s databases, which helped generate additional leads.
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