Basque businessman Alejandro Hamlyn arrested in Abu Dhabi for hydrocarbon fraud
The National High Court secured the arrest of Alejandro Hamlyn in Abu Dhabi following an international Interpol warrant. The businessman was a fugitive and is being investigated for tax fraud and links to a hydrocarbon scheme.
Arrest in Abu Dhabi of fugitive businessman investigated over hydrocarbon scheme
The National High Court has secured the arrest of Basque businessman Alejandro Hamlyn in Abu Dhabi, as confirmed by Google News ES — Crime (es) based on information published by Libertad Digital. The Central Court of First Instance Number 1 issued an International Detention Order (OID) that was executed by Interpol on Monday. Hamlyn is in the custody of local authorities pending his transfer to Spain and presentation before a judge.
The businessman had been a fugitive for years in Dubai, where he had evaded Spanish justice. His company Hafesa had been sentenced to a fine of 153 million euros in proceedings held in Hamlyn's absence.
The hydrocarbon scheme and the scope of fraud
The judicial and police investigation being conducted in Spain concerns a criminal organisation allegedly engaged in tax fraud, corruption and abuse of influence in the fuel distribution and marketing sector. The scheme's structure operates through shell companies—among them Villafuel S.L. and Have Got Time S.L.—and financial mechanisms designed to evade VAT and the special tax on hydrocarbons.
The Central Operational Unit (UCO) estimates that the amount defrauded exceeds 182.5 million euros between 2021 and 2024. Part of those profits is believed to have been diverted abroad, to accounts in Portugal, China and Colombia.
The alleged leaders of the organisation are Víctor de Aldama and Claudio Rivas, whom investigations place at the head of companies related to fuel trading. The main case is being handled by the Central Court of First Instance Number 5 of the National High Court, and the Anti-Corruption Prosecution has requested an extension of the investigation until 2026, with new charges expected.
Bribes to politicians and links to the Koldo case
The investigation suggests that the scheme paid approximately one million euros in bribes or favours to, in the words of police documentation, "buy the will" of politicians and obtain operating licences. Among documented arrangements is the delivery of a villa to former minister José Luis Ábalos. Intercepted conversations and seized documentation also point to contacts with the ministries of Transport, Industry and Ecological Transition.
The hydrocarbon case also appears to be linked to the so-called Koldo case, in which political figures and intermediaries identified in both investigations coincide.
Leire Díez and the conversation about Venezuela
The case file includes a conversation between Leire Díez—described in the documentation as a "socialist plumber"—, lawyer Jacobo Teijelo and businessmen Javier Pérez Dolset and Alejandro Hamlyn. In that exchange, those present asked Hamlyn to attempt to remove lawyer José Antonio Choclán from Aldama's defence.
Hamlyn used the meeting to explain how the illicit hydrocarbon business involving Venezuelan oil operated. "It's wholesale tax evasion," the businessman stated, identifying the origin of the scheme as a company linked to Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez. Hamlyn argued that that company would have a nephew of Rodríguez acting as a frontman.
The businessman explained the distribution chain of Venezuelan petroleum in the following terms: "In the end he sold the fuel to another company that sold the fuel and they changed the documents through Curaçao. I have those too. It arrived here, yes. It arrived in Algeciras. I have the ships, I have everything. One person from Gibraltar bought it, the owner of the company is a friend of mine. That goes directly to the shipping companies. You're talking about a fuel oil product on a market, I think they sold it to Firmed High there. You're talking about a product worth 30 dollars a barrel versus 100 here. You're talking about wholesale tax evasion."
Hamlyn also described the role of United States sanctions: "When Venezuelan product has been extremely cheap it has been because of American sanctions. You can only operate with an FAC licence. In this case, what they did was smuggling and brought the product to a company that belongs to a friend of mine, by the way. Here they had extended credit to them. They would put it in their tanks with another origin and sell it in bunkering. That's what they've been doing. That's where they've made the big money."
In that same conversation, Hamlyn indicated to his interlocutors that he could facilitate access to another witness: "I know them. I can bring you another one to the table who will tell absolutely everything if I call him."
Charge of bribery of a police officer
In addition to investigation for fraud in the fuel sector, Hamlyn is charged with alleged bribery of a National Police officer stationed at the National High Court. According to the accusation, the purpose of the payment would have been the destruction of evidence related to the case in which he was already charged.
For his part, in the conversation with Leire Díez, the businessman demanded a "signed note" certifying that the Prosecution would grant him favourable treatment in exchange for his cooperation. Judicial authorities continue to analyse the seized documentation and intercepted communications to determine the full scope of the investigated network.
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)