Spain has seized the Costa del Sol homes of a wanted oil tycoon who disappeared after allegedly defrauding the country of approximately €100million.
Khadem Al Qubaisi is being investigated by the National Court over the sale of the Cepsa Tower in Madrid in September 2016.
According to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the Emirati executive deceived his own company to receive a personal commission of €100 million for the deal.
With the alleged help of Spanish commission agents, the skyscraper and second-tallest building in Spain was transferred to Pontegadea, an investment fund owned by Zara founder Amancio Ortega – who had no idea of the illegality at play.
Al Qubaisi is accused of using money from the infamous 1MBD scandal, which involved the looting of $4.5 billion from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.
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This week, the National Court seized his mansions in Madrid, Marbella and Estepona, after already auctioning off his Aston Martin and several high-value paintings, reports investigative newspaper El Confidencial.
Al Qubaisi chaired Cepsa between 2011 and 2016 after rising to the top of the UAE state oil company, which is the largest shareholder in the Spanish energy multinational.
Spanish authorities suspect Al Qubaisi is being held in a prison in Abu Dhabi, but their repeated letters to its leaders have so far been ignored.
Amid a lack of cooperation, the courts in Spain have seized all assets bought by Al Qubaisi on Spanish soil.
These include two apartments on Calle Antonio Acuña in Madrid, near to the iconic Retiro Park, currently worth more than €4million.
His biggest loss was his mansion in Marbella’s exclusive Sierra Blanca urbanisation, which counts Novak Djokovic and other celebrities as neighbours.
The three-story home sits on a plot of over 3,000sqm with a pool and is worth more than €8million.
The most recent seizure is his home in Arroyo de las Cañas in Estepona.
