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Government·2h ago

Spain's tax agency detects simulation in €4.4 million Quirón payments to Madrid president's partner

New filings show Alberto González Amador's company received 4.4 million euros from health giant Quirón despite lacking staff or consultancy capacity, prompting tax inspectors to flag signs of simulation.

Investigation findings

Spain's tax agency and the Guardia Civil's UCO unit have flagged "indicios de simulación" (signs of simulation) in €4.4 million in payments from the Quirón healthcare group to Alberto González Amador, partner of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Community of Madrid. The invoices, issued between 2021 and 2023, correspond to consultancy services that González Amador's company was ill-equipped to provide; UCO notes the firm had only aesthetic treatment equipment and lacked the necessary means for advisory work. The income multiplied sevenfold after González Amador's relationship with Ayuso became publicly known in 2021. Tax inspectors now seek to trace 116 bank accounts across 16 financial institutions, including 19 tied to González Amador and the remainder to Quirón executive Fernando Javier Camino and his spouse.

Timeline of the González Amador–Quirón investigation
  1. González Amador earns €1.9 million in commissions from mask sales through a company where Quirón executive Fernando Camino was a director.
  2. Public relationship with Isabel Díaz Ayuso begins; starts billing Quirón for consultancy services. Over three years invoices total €4.4 million.
  3. Tax agency sends report to court on actions against Quirón group.
  4. UCO report reveals lack of consultancy means, suspicion of simulation, and request to trace 116 accounts.

Political storm

PP secretary general Miguel Tellado insisted the matter is personal and respects judicial independence, drawing a contrast with the PSOE's handling of its own scandals.

It does not affect an administration, but a private individual. If a businessman has to settle specific matters with the tax authority, it in no way affects Ayuso.

Opposition parties, however, linked the payments to the fact that Quirón receives over €1 billion annually from the Madrid regional health system. Más Madrid spokesperson Manuela Bergerot said:

The income from Quirón to González Amador has multiplied by seven since he became the president's partner. That is either having a lot of luck or committing quite a few crimes.

PSOE digital minister Óscar López argued the affair leads back to Ayuso herself.

Everything starts and ends in Mrs Ayuso's penthouse.

Quirón's ethical contradictions

A separate UCO report cited by eldiario.es notes that Quirón's own code of ethics explicitly prohibits corruption and situations where "the slightest hint of corruption may arise." The document, headlined "Your gut tells you something is wrong," reinforces the paradox of the payments flowing from the group to a company that, according to inspectors, appeared to lack the capacity to deliver the billed services.

Journalist Antonio Maestre wryly observed:

We must congratulate Isabel Díaz Ayuso for the luck her associates have; the moment they meet her, they start making fortunes.

Mask deal precedent

Investigators are also examining a €1.9 million commission that González Amador earned in 2020 from the sale of masks to a company where Camino was a senior director. Those funds, obtained during the first year of the pandemic, preceded the Quirón consultancy contracts and are seen as another link in a pattern of transactions that bypassed normal business requirements. The UCO has asked the court to scrutinize all accounts tied to the network stretching back to 2014.

Madrid

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