Ex-Spanish Security Chief Denies Interior Role in 2015 Andorra Bank Takedown

Francisco Martínez, former Spanish Secretary of State for Security under Mariano Rajoy, has denied any involvement by Spain's Interior Ministry in the 2015 intervention of Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA). Speaking in a recorded conversation on 15 July 2022 with Leire Díez, a PSOE activist linked to the ongoing 'cas Leire' corruption probe, Martínez attributed the bank's downfall to actions led by anti-corruption prosecutor José Grinda.

Martínez described the intervention as "absolutely disproportionate," noting that BPA itself—not just its clients—was accused of money laundering, leading to its takeover within a week in March 2015. He pointed to coordination between Andorran authorities, including UIFAnd, Spain's Sepblac, and the respective prosecutor's offices, all under Grinda's direction. The trigger, he said, was a FinCEN notice from the US, though he questioned whether key figures like Marcelino Martín Blas or Celestino Barroso, Spain's then-police attaché in Andorra, knew of it in advance.

A year earlier, Martínez claimed, Barroso had warned BPA of potential US institutional action unless it provided banking data on Catalan politicians, including the Pujol family. He alleged involvement by Spain's CNI intelligence service and economic ministries, though he lacked proof of the CNI's specific role, as it operated independently. Interior, he insisted, played no part.

Martínez also dismissed claims by retired police commissioner José Manuel Villarejo, telling Díez that Villarejo produced false reports on BPA afterward "to charge the Ciercos," describing them as lies based on partial or fabricated information. Villarejo, who testified in Andorra's Batllia court, had previously asserted that 'Operació Catalunya'—linked to BPA—was a state operation involving Rajoy's government, the CNI, and Guardia Civil.

The conversation emerged in the 'cas Leire' summary, where Díez sought damaging information on the PP to counter scandals around PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez. Martínez exonerated figures like Eugenio Pino and Bonifacio Díez Sevillano from knowledge of the FinCEN notice.