US EditionSpanish prosecutor seeks more than $200 million fine on BBVA over spying allegations
Prosecutors seek €181.8 million fine and up to 173 years in prison for former BBVA chairman over alleged spying using a private investigation agency.
- On Thursday, Spain's anti-corruption prosecutor requested a €181.8 million fine for BBVA over the bank's alleged role in a corporate spying scandal that has rocked the country's business world.
- Investigations center on the bank's hiring of former police commissioner Jose Manuel Villarejo to carry out various allegedly illegal assignments between 2004 and 2016, roiling Spain's corporate sector since their launch in 2019.
- Prosecutors requested a prison sentence of up to 173 years for former BBVA chairman Francisco Gonzalez, though Spanish criminal code limits his potential time served to 15 years, according to a prosecutor's office spokesperson.
- Spain's High Court has yet to formally open the trial, while BBVA claims in its 2025 annual report that the investigation does not imply criminal liability for the bank.
- No current board member is involved in the probe, which has caused reputational damage since 2019, and BBVA declined to comment on Thursday regarding the allegations.
33 Articles
33 Articles
Francisco González, president of BBVA between 2000 and the end of 2018, was charged as early as 2019, suspected of having made entrepreneurs, politicians and journalists listen for 12 years.
The Spanish Anti-Corruption Promotoria requested 173 years of imprisonment for the former president of the BBVA bank, Francisco González, accused of resorting to an ex-police of police to spy out political and economic personalities, reported in this quarter of the judicial sources. The former police officer José Manuel Villarejo is being investigated in several open-ended processes following his imprisonment in 2017, which reached the highest p…
Spanish prosecutor seeks more than $200 million fine on BBVA over spying allegations
Spain's anti-corruption prosecutor has called for BBVA to be fined 181.8 million euros ($208.16 million) for the bank's alleged role in a spying scandal that has rocked the country's business world, according to a document seen
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has requested 173 years in prison for the former president of BBVA Francisco González for offences of active bribery and disclosure of secrets in the hiring of the company Cenyt, linked to former commissioner José Manuel Villarejo. In addition, it also requests that fines be imposed on the bank entity that together amount to 184,3 million euros. In the indictment, signed by prosecutor Elisa Lamela on March…
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