The Criminal Chamber of the National Court agreed on Friday to keep in prison Alvaro Romelu, a businessman known as Cryptospain who allegedly financed Alves Pérez’s European election campaign with 100,000 euros. Section Four … Last Thursday, he held a hearing to analyze the businessman’s defense appeal against the decision of investigating judge Jose Luis Calama, who ruled on November 7. She agreed to jail him without bail when she realized there was a high flight risk Due to the capital it can rely on abroad.
Thus, on Friday, the court agreed to confirm the decision of the President of the Central Investigative Court No. 4, thus endorsing the allegations of anti-corruption prosecutor Mar Scharfhausen, who confirmed before the judges that the circumstances that led to his imprisonment still apply.
For its part, the accusation carried out by Zabalos Abujados, which includes about 95% of those affected, was also allied with the Public Prosecution and He highlighted that the main defense was the one that was investigated During this session, nothing new was presented that could have the strength to lift the deprivation of liberty measure.
It should be remembered that Calama, who is investigating him for crimes of aggravated fraud, criminal organization, money laundering and forgery of documents, and which places him as the mastermind of the alleged pyramid scheme channeled through the Madeira Investment Club, indicated in his order under which he was sent to prison that if he remained free, there was “a certain risk that he will proceed to conceal, destroy or alter the relevant sources of evidence”.
The decision was taken after the Central Operations Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard arrested Romelu the previous day after informing the National Court that the person under investigation had an account in Singapore worth €29 million.
Foreign money
The Fourth Division Order explains that, in the court’s opinion, there is a risk of flight because of Romelo’s “enormous economic capacity” abroad, which would allow him to live “comfortably” in countries where he can avoid potential search and arrest warrants.
In line, it is recalled that during the investigation, transfers amounting to 12,935,000 euros were found in a bank account in Singapore, which received more than 29 million euros from another account opened in the Bank of Portugal, which the investigated person allegedly used to transfer the funds received by investors. He adds that approximately $18 million of it was transferred to a bank account in Thailand.
In addition, the accused owns real estate, luxury vehicles, and boats in different countries, as the court says, in addition to the location of a cryptocurrency account owned by the person under investigation with more than 7 million euros, which no one can dispose of except him.
“There is no doubt that all of these objective indicators not only increase the risk of escape, but also increase the possibility of destroying or hiding evidence of the network of companies that are supposed to be and created by the person being investigated for transferring money, and since many of these companies and operations of transferring and hiding money are located abroad and spread across different countries, it is absolutely necessary to locate and block them, and to find out the laundering operations allegedly carried out, procedures that would be frustrating or at least difficult if the person had carried them out,” he noted. “The detainees under investigation were “They are at large, as today he has been able, via remote communication, to continue working with funds deposited abroad and to hide the channels used to transfer funds to third countries.”