Disgraced former king of Spain had 'illness' for money, ex-lover says in leaked recording

Juan Carlos, the disgraced former king of Spain, had an ‘illness’ for money and financed the royal family’s lavish lifestyle with ‘suitcases of cash’ brought back from trips to Arab nations, according to a recording of his former lover.

The recording, published on Tuesday in online newspaper OK Diairo, piles further embarrassment on his son King Felipe just two days before he is due to preside over a state ceremony honouring those who have died from Covid-19.

“He takes the plane, goes to Arab countries and comes back on the plane with the cash in suitcases. Sometimes with five million. The money is in [royal residence] Zarzuela. He has a machine to count money. I saw it with my own eyes,” Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein can be heard claiming in part of the tape published by OK Diario.

“He pays everything for his son, his daughters, his wife… Everything in cash,” she adds, before going on to describe as an “illness” Juan Carlos’s obsession for money and his “child-like” delight in counting it.

The recording was made surreptitiously at a restaurant in 2016 by José Villarejo, a former policeman. His purpose in recording the conversation remains unclear and Ms zu Sayn-Wittgenstein has refused to comment on it.

Last month The Telegraph revealed how Juan Carlos and a business partner had paid half a million dollars for a secret luxury honeymoon for Felipe and Queen Letizia after their wedding in 2004.

Mr Villarejo also recorded a conversation with Ms zu-Sayn Wittgenstein in 2015 – the publication of which led to twin investigations into Juan Carlos and his coterie of alleged money launderers in Switzerland and Spain.

OK Diario said that the newly revealed recording was among tapes seized by Spain’s National Court, which has placed Mr Villarejo in pre-trial custody on suspicion of a string of offenses including extortion and illegal surveillance.

In 2018 a Swiss prosecutor opened an investigation into Juan Carlos’s ex-lover and the former king’s lawyer and financial advisor, both based in Geneva.

The Swiss investigation, probing possible money laundering related to a 100-million-dollar gift to Juan Carlos from the king of Saudi Arabia in 2008, is still in progress.

Last month prosecutors at Spain’s Supreme Court announced the start of an investigation to establish whether the former king could be accused of any crimes related to the Saudi money during the years since his abdication and loss of legal immunity in 2014.

Juan Carlos has yet to comment on the allegations