A multi-million euro lawsuit has been filed against Spain, accusing the Popular Party’s so-called “patriotic police” of orchestrating harmful actions. Higini and Ramon Cierco, the owners of Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA), are demanding €141 million in compensation from the Bank of Spain for its role in the forced liquidation of Banco Madrid, which they owned. This intervention was justified on allegations of money laundering, later rejected by the courts. Simultaneously, BPA executives reportedly faced political pressure from the PP’s patriotic police to disclose whether prominent Catalan leaders held accounts in Andorra, a move seemingly aimed at discrediting the pro-independence movement — a key tactic in Operation Catalonia.

An illegally obtained screenshot revealed a BPA account in Andorra belonging to the family of former Catalan president Jordi Pujol — a previously undeclared account linked to an inheritance from his grandfather, Florenci Pujol, to Marta Ferrussola and their seven children. Around four million euros, originally held at Banca Reig (later Andbank), were transferred to BPA after the Pujol family was asked to leave Andbank in 2010. In July 2014, Pujol publicly acknowledged the existence of the undeclared funds. The case escalated in March 2015 when Spanish authorities alerted the U.S. Treasury to an alleged risk involving BPA, triggering repercussions for Banco Madrid, acquired by BPA in 2010.

No irregularities

The lawsuit, filed in the administrative disputes chamber of Spain’s National Audience, outlines in 149 pages the challenges faced by the bank and blames the Bank of Spain for causing a 20% run on funds upon announcing its intervention. This led to the liquidation and bankruptcy of the bank, with Spanish public prosecutors initially seeking to declare the financial institution “guilty.” However, the judge dismissed this claim, stating that the situation was “fortuitous” due to the lack of government action. The intervention in Banco Madrid left many clients with frozen accounts, including Marta Ferrusola and three of her children, who had paid €1.3 million to legalize their funds and cover fines to the Spanish treasury. Yet, after the intervention, they were only able to recover €100,000 each, just like the rest of the bank’s clients.

The Bank of Spain rejected the substantial claim, prompting the Cierco brothers (who, along with their partners, total four claimants) to demand that the National Audience grant their request. “The actions of the Bank of Spain resulted in serious and illegal asset damage that they should not bear,” states their lawyer, Jesús Rodríguez Márquez, asserting that no statute of limitations applies to the case, as criminal proceedings are ongoing.

The claim highlights that in 2015, when the issue arose, BPA was an Andorran bank focused on private banking services, operating across six countries (Andorra, Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Panama, and Uruguay). BPA’s total assets were valued at €1.985 billion, with a solvency ratio of 15.38% according to Basel III guidelines. Banco Madrid, a private institution owned by BPA, specialized in managing large assets and had approximately 15,000 clients, a bad debt ratio under 2%, and €695 million in deposits. The document claims that the collapse of the bank was triggered by the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which identified BPA as a “first-priority concern due to money laundering.” In March 2015, the Bank of Spain, following the Andorran National Institute of Finance’s (INAF) decision, intervened in Banco Madrid.

The Cierco family argues that Banco Madrid’s liquidity and solvency levels far exceeded the legal minimums, and that less extreme measures could have been implemented. Furthermore, they note that after four to six years, all judicial and administrative proceedings regarding alleged money laundering at Banco Madrid have concluded without any illicit funds being identified by the bank’s administrators. They add that the SEPBLAC administrative procedure ended with a “waiver” concerning the bank’s administrators. The most recent resolution was issued on August 18, 2021.

As a result, the owners of the now-defunct Andorran bank have filed a lawsuit against the Spanish state. The document details that the amount each of the four partners claims was calculated by multiplying each partner’s stake in Banco Madrid by both the 100% theoretical book value (€129 million) and the 100% valuation obtained from the bank’s value (€187 million). Consequently, the lawsuit includes four claims of €3.932 million each and one for €129.805 million.

Rajoy in Andorra

In Spain, no aspects related to Operation Catalonia have yet been allowed to go to trial. Last November, the Drets legal organization and the Andorran Institute of Human Rights (IDH) urged an Andorran judge to investigate the alleged extortion of Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA) in the context of Operation Catalonia. They named former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, former Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro, former Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz, and other members of the previous interior ministry as defendants. If they fail to appear for testimony, Drets and the IDH are calling for international arrest warrants to be issued through Interpol.

Drets and the IDH seek a judicial inquiry to determine the roles played by both the Spanish and Andorran governments in the liquidation of BPA and the pressure to access bank accounts supposedly linked to the Pujol family, Artur Mas, and Oriol Junqueras. In October 2020, the judge accepted a complaint for alleged document forgery and coercion against the former Spanish prime minister. Former Interior Minister Fernández Díaz is also accused of threats, coercion, extortion, and blackmail, along with former Interior Secretary Francisco Martínez Vázquez and former National Police Director General Ignacio Cosidó.