Zac Goldsmith: Spanish tax evasion dispute comes into new light following secret recording
A secret recording has shed new light on claims minister Zac Goldsmith evaded millions in tax, as ruled by a Spanish judge.
Obtained by The Guardian, the audio clip includes a top police officer, José Manuel Villarejo, telling businesswoman Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein he’d be “delighted” to assist the former MP in his dispute with Spanish tax authorities.
Villarejo reportedly says his career would be “dead” if the dispute went public, with courts in Spain ruling the scheme amounted to a “serious” breach of the law.
The Conservative peer is facing calls to cough up what he owes to the Spanish taxpayer, with claims he and his brother’s business in the country amounts to upwards of £21m in unpaid taxes.
The case centres around a €24m (£20m) dispute over land linked to his villa on the Costa del Sol, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a close ally, reportedly stayed at in October, with his wife Carrie.
The Minister of State for the Pacific and the International Environment, Goldsmith, failed in his bid to become mayor of London in 2016, and has reportedly refused to respond on the case so far.
Zac Goldsmith has been approached for comment.