Joaquín Romero Maura
 Joaquín Romero Maura    (historian, banker) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1940 Nice, France |
| Died | 5 June 2022 (Age 81) Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Alma mater | University of Barcelona, Oxford University/St Antony's College |
| Interests | Juan Carlos I |
| Relatives | Miguel Maura Gamazo |
Spanish banker and historian who changed career to international banker and "rubbed shoulders with Henry Kissinger Mystery trustee King Juan Carlos I trust fund. Attended Bilderberg/1979. | |
Joaquín Romero Maura was a Spanish historian who changed career to international banker and "rubbed shoulders with Henry Kissinger."[1][2][3] He was later a mystery trustee King Juan Carlos I trust fund. Attended Bilderberg/1979.
Education
He was born in the French city of Nice in 1940, refugees during the Spanish Civil War. The family soon returned to Spain, settling in Barcelona, where he studied law in Barcelona. He changer path and moved to England, where he under the direction of Raymond Carr, completed a doctorate in history at the University of Oxford.[1]
Career
Although he was the first director of the Iberian Studies Center of the St. Antony's College in Oxford, the path to which Romero Maura dedicated most of his professional life was not academia, but banking. After completing his thesis, he made a new career move; heading to London to develop career in the world of international high finance. He lived for decades between the City of London and Washington. In the US capital he rubbed shoulders with personalities of the American elite of those years, Henry Kissinger among them.[1]
The new period that opened with the transition to democracy served to bring him back to his homeland, Spain. His cousin,Jorge Semprún, was appointed in 1988 Minister of Culture in one of the governments of Felipe González. Semprún offered Romero Maura the position of head of his cabinet, a position he accepted.[1]
Once Semprún left the position of minister in 1991, Romero Maura returned to his life as a financier between London and Washington.[1]
He died in Zaragoza on June 5, 2022.[4]
Mystery trust fund
A one-time Oxford Don has been named as mystery beneficiary of a €10 million trust fund in the Channel Islands linked to the disgraced former king Juan Carlos of Spain. Spanish prosecutors want to question Joaquín Romero Maura, 81, a respected author and former history professor at St Antony's College, after discovering the Jersey fund while investigating Juan Carlos' unexplained wealth. But Mr Maura, who is the only person who could legally authorise a transfer of the funds, may not be able to testify after he was traced to a Zaragoza care home, where he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Mr Maura, great-grandson of a five-time prime minister of Spain, lived in the UK for most of his life and co-directed the Iberian Centre with the illustrious historian Sir Raymond Carr. The Spanish online newspaper El Confidencial cites court sources as confirming that Mr Romero Maura's name appears as the sole trustee of a fund in Jersey. The fund was set up in the 1990s by a close aide of then King Juan Carlos, Manuel Prado y Colón de Carvajal, who was later jailed for embezzlement. For reasons that remain unclear, Mr Romero Maura was named as a fund trustee.
It is thought that the Jersey fund holds cash from the Kuwait government offered as a sweetener for the Spanish government's support for the coalition against Saddam Hussein in the first Gulf War. Juan Carlos is also being investigated over the receipt of a $100m "gift" from a former Saudi king, which was concealed in a Panamanian fund whose second beneficiary was his son, King Felipe. According to sources close to the investigation, prosecutors have detected a recent movement of money from the fund in Jersey and that the "presumed recipient" of the movements was the former king, although the transfer was not in his name, but that of a third party. Former king Juan Carlos's lawyer has said he denies any connection with the Jersey fund.[5]
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1979 | 27 April 1979 | 29 April 1979 | Austria Baden Clubhotel Schloss Weikersdorf | 27th Bilderberg, 95 guests, Austria |
References
- ↑ a b c d e https://www.eldebate.com/espana/20220606/muere-historiador-joaquin-romero-maura-geriatrico-barcelona.html
- ↑ https://www.elimparcial.es/noticia/241837/opinion/joaquin-romero-maura-1940-2022.html
- ↑ https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-11-15/uk-non-profit-considers-multi-million-dollar-donation-from-fund-linked-to-spains-embattled-ex-monarch.html
- ↑ https://www.eldebate.com/espana/20220606/muere-historiador-joaquin-romero-maura-geriatrico-barcelona.html
- ↑ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/28/oxford-don-linked-spanish-king-wealth-investigation-may-not/
