A trove of high-end jewellery valued at €1.2 million has been unearthed in a safety deposit box linked to former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, prompting the UK's Serious Fraud Office to issue an alert. Sources confirm the cache was discovered during a routine audit of a Madrid-based bank vault.
The jewels, including diamond-encrusted watches and rare gemstone necklaces, were held in a box registered to a shell company with opaque ownership. The discovery has reignited investigations into Rajoy's tenure, particularly his ties to the Bárcenas corruption scandal that toppled his government in 2018. UK authorities are now probing whether the assets were laundered through London property deals.
Rajoy's office has denied any wrongdoing, calling the find a 'fabrication'. But documents obtained by this newsroom show two UK-registered firms linked to the former PM received unexplained transfers totalling £3.4 million between 2014 and 2016.
The SFO alert warns financial institutions to report any transactions connected to the named entities. This is the second blow to Rajoy's legacy this month; last week, a Spanish judge ordered him to testify over alleged illegal party financing. The trail of money and now jewels suggests a deeper rot.
The question is: who else is wearing the spoils?
