Julio Iglesias’s multi-million network of businesses: from the Virgin Islands to ‘Billionaire Bunker’ | USA

Image: Sr. García

Spanish singer Julio Iglesias and five companies in the British Virgin Islands, a tax haven, have acquired a series of properties in Indian Creek, Miami’s coveted island known as the “billionaire bunker”. The homes are now worth up to $ 112 million, according to data from Miami-Dade County public records. The 78-year-old, who was born in Madrid, is linked to 15 other companies, all run by Trident Trust, one of the administrators at the center of the Pandora Papers, an investigation coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) .

Over a period of two years, more than 600 journalists from 117 countries analyzed 11.9 million files from the offices of 14 different law firms specializing in setting up offshore companies in tax havens. These types of companies based in countries other than the tax domicile of their trustees are legal provided the owner declares them at their place of residence. Problems for the authorities start when anonymity and zero taxation are sought.

In Spain, EL PAÍS and the TV channel La Sexta analyzed these leaked documents in search of people of public interest who had taken advantage of some of the most opaque jurisdictions in the world. The result is more than 700 companies affiliated with our country, including dozens of relevant personalities.

In addition to the five properties on the island, Iglesias and six other companies have acquired six other modest properties in the Surfside neighborhood, all near the entrance to Indian Creek for a total of $ 4 million. He is the owner of a private aircraft through one of them, the G-450 Holding Limited. Another eight companies appearing have no clear function. He benefits from a total of 20 companies – 16 of them with his wife, the Dutchman Miranda Rijnsburger, and four others that are only in his name. All of them are controlled by a trust – the most opaque instrument for controlling assets held abroad – the Julio Iglesias de la Cueva Revocable Trust. It was established in the British Virgin Islands in 1995 with the aim of managing Iglesias’ assets “for inheritance purposes”.

The pop singer made this tiny private island north of Miami Beach fashionable among the elite with its access to the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, views of the Miami skyline, and the total safety of a private police unit that patrols both land and water those far away with curious glances. Little more than a square kilometer and crowned by a golf club from the 1930s, the island now has 31 villas, all of which are built with sea views and surrounded by huge palm trees that hide the owners from prying eyes when they cool off in luxurious pools or on artificial beaches lie pink sand that was embarked from the Bahamas. And while there are no shops, hotels, or supermarkets in the enclave, the villas have private piers for luxury yachts to moor. In short, this is among the most expensive properties in the United States.

A look at last month’s properties on the south side of Star Island in Miami, Florida.Eva Marie UZCATEGUI

With a fortune estimated by Forbes at € 800 million, Iglesias is one of the few millionaires associated with so many offshore companies, some of which were founded in the late 1990s and beyond. The singer of hits like La vida sigue igual or Me va, me va, who is considered the best-selling Spanish-speaking artist of all time with around 350 million records sold, has since ceased to be taxable in Spain in 1978, according to his representative Juan Velasco, who provided the information during of an interview with EL PAÍS. He lived in the Dominican Republic until at least 2018, but his attorneys, unwilling to comment on the story, have not confirmed his current residence.

Iglesia paved the way to Miami, followed by other Spanish musicians such as balladist Alejandro Sanz in the 2000s and more recently flamenco pop artist Rosalia. “I never stopped paying a bloody tax anywhere in the world; where I sing, I pay my taxes, ”snapped Iglesias in 2015 in an interview with TV journalist Jordi Évole.

The purchase of the Indian Creek property appears to be following a pattern: a limited liability company is formed in a tax haven and up to $ 25 million worth of land for a vacant lot of approximately 7,400 square feet is then purchased through that company .

Indian Creek Island hit the headlines in December 2020. While Donald Trump held on to the US presidency and half the world battled the coronavirus pandemic, Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner were busy reorganizing their fortunes. The result was that one of Iglesias’ vacant lots was sold to the couple for $ 32,179,000, the official amount recorded by Miami-Dade County, according to U.S. media, despite the fact that ownership records provide the identity of the last owner of the Plot not yet published.

The land coincides with the four vacant lots Iglesias owns in the most privileged area of ​​the island that offers the best views of downtown Miami. In 2008 he bought mansion number 30 and in 2017 asked for a staggering $ 150 million for the four vacant lots near his property, which together opened up nearly 250 yards of boardwalk. One of those conspiracies is what local media outlets like the South Florida Business Journal claim the former president’s daughter bought her.

“It’s the most exclusive and private corner of Miami,” says Kevin Kavanaugh, luxury real estate expert from his Miami Beach office. “While the luxury market for new builds fluctuates annually, so penthouses are in vogue, the villa market is a stable business that is growing every year. A safe commodity. “

Last Wednesday a construction trailer was waiting at the gates of the bridge for the access to the island. Neighbors speculate that Ivanka currently lives nearby in Surfside while her villa is being built across the bay.

In 2020, another couple of familiar faces acquired a similar piece of land: supermodel Gisele Bündchen and her husband, American soccer star Tom Brady, grabbed number 26, which already has a villa on it, even though the couple intended to tear it down to make room for to create another ecological and sustainable house, as several American media announced last December. That piece of land was sold to them last October for $ 17 million.

English version by Heather Galloway.