Infanta Pilar Explains Her Panama Offshore Firm

Spain’s Infanta Pilar (79), aunt of King Felipe VI has released a press statement on Wednesday about the offshore firm she had for forty years in Panama. The existance of this firm was leaked last weekend in the ‘Panama Papers’.

In the statement the princess explains why, when and how the firm was started. In 1969 the company was founded by Aleko Pakamarkou, an entreperneur and a good friend of Luis Gómez-Acebo, the late husband of the princess. In 1974 her husband took over this firm. He feared that he and his family may have to move abroad due to the situation in Spain. The basque terrorist group ETA threatened to kidnap the Count of Barcelona. Luis Gómez-Acebo wanted to do expand his business activities abroad to safeguard the interests of his family in case Spain became too unsafe for them to stay.

The firm had several projects, but none of them were succesful. There were no revenues that were hidden from the tax services. When her husband became ill in 1984, the firm received even less attention from its owner: “we were fighting for his life” explains the infanta. No new projects were started as Luis Gómez-Acebo died in 1991.

The infanta dissolved the company in June 2014 because it did not have enough resources to justify its upkeep.

The Infanta in 2013 with her nephew and his wife

Filed under Spain
Tagged Finances, Infanta Pilar Duchess of Badajoz, Luis Gómez-Acebo.