Aldama diverted 27.9 million euros to money laundering in Portugal in the hydrocarbons case
The European Public Prosecutor reveals that Aldama and other businesspeople used Portuguese shell companies to launder funds from fuel firms between 2022 and 2024.
The European Public Prosecutor enters the hydrocarbons case with data from Portugal
The European Public Prosecutor has submitted to judge Santiago Pedraz of the National Court information from Portugal pointing to Víctor de Aldama and other businesspeople as suspected of having diverted 27.9 million euros between 2022 and 2024, using shell companies based in the neighbouring country to launder money from the hydrocarbons sector. According to El País, which has had access to the Public Prosecutor's decree, the operation came to light after suspicious transfers to the Portuguese banking system were detected.
Four Spanish companies in focus
In late June, the Spanish Delegation of the European Public Prosecutor received details identifying four fuel sector companies operating in Spain—Salamanca Fuel, Canary Island, Casmar Hidrocarburos and Obaoil 3000—as the source of the funds transferred to Portugal. The Portuguese authorities opened an investigation into money laundering after suspecting that those firms used fake Portuguese entities to simulate payments for supplies without declaring the corresponding VAT, with the aim of returning the illicit gains to their promoters.
The Public Prosecutor's document concludes that "a group of Spanish fuel trading companies" used "Portuguese shell companies to make alleged payments for fuel" and thereby achieved "the return of the illicit gains generated to accounts in Spain".
The network of fictitious companies in Portugal
The scheme involved a series of Portuguese business entities whose declared activity bore no relation to the energy sector. A company engaged in real estate trading, administered by a Brazilian citizen with a student residence permit, received payments from Obaoil valued at 10 million euros without declaring them. The prosecutor notes that this entity "has not submitted invoices to the tax authorities, which indicates that those amounts do not correspond to declared activity or actual operations".
Another company, Cálculo Corriente, whose declared activity was concrete manufacturing and transport, received between March and September 2023 transfers of 5.9 million euros from Salamanca Fuel and Obaoil, but only declared 3.1 million, "moreover without its purpose corresponding to the fuel sector to which the company ordering the transfers was dedicated".
Aldama's role and Atmosferaudaz
The Public Prosecutor directly links Aldama to the company Atmosferaudaz, founded in August 2022 with the stated purpose of consultancy and real estate management. This company received 7.4 million euros from hydrocarbons firms, despite Aldama not appearing as a buyer of goods in Portugal. Civil Guard reports incorporated into the National Court case already identified that company as one of the vehicles through which the broker would have channelled funds into Spain, including through the acquisition of properties in Andalucía.
Alongside Aldama, the European Public Prosecutor's decree also names businesspeople Nuno Miguel Santos, José Manuel Recio and Juan Catalán as participants in the scheme.
Destination of the money: United Kingdom, cryptocurrencies and other jurisdictions
Of the 27.9 million euros under scrutiny, Portuguese investigations have determined that at least nine million returned to Spanish bank accounts. Another three million was sent to the United Kingdom through cryptocurrency brokers, and another three million was distributed among accounts in different jurisdictions, including Poland, France, Belgium, Lithuania, Italy, Germany and Uruguay. In Portugal, 13 million remained, of which the Portuguese Public Prosecutor managed to seise 11.8 million.
The Portuguese authorities concluded that the tax fraud was committed on Spanish soil, so they transferred the investigation to the Spanish Delegation of the European Public Prosecutor, which began the verification phase in early summer.
The National Court case, with broader scope
Many of the names and companies mentioned by Portugal already featured in the investigation that judge Pedraz has been conducting at the National Court since 2024. The Civil Guard's Central Operational Unit (UCO) places Aldama and businessman Claudio Rivas at the top of the alleged scheme, identifying them as suspected directors of a structure set up to conceal fraud in the fuel sector through front men. Both have denied the allegations in court.
The case at Central Investigating Court number 5 of the National Court points to a defalcation of the public coffers of 231 million euros and encompasses, in addition to the companies cited by the European Public Prosecutor, other firms such as Carburantes Jalón-Plaza, Skyward Tech and Espaeventos. Given that the scope of the Spanish investigation is broader than that studied in Portugal, the European Public Prosecutor has agreed to submit all the information gathered to it.
Source: El País