London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 02, 2025

Secret recording sheds light on Zac Goldsmith tax evasion case

Secret recording sheds light on Zac Goldsmith tax evasion case

Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein told police officer tax evasion case could kill Tory’s career

Zac Goldsmith faces fresh questions about his involvement in a multimillion-pound tax evasion scheme in Spain after a family friend was secretly recorded trying to enlist a police officer to help “resolve” the case.

The family friend, businesswoman Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, the ex-lover of Spain’s former King Juan Carlos, was recorded telling the senior police officer the Conservative politician’s career would be “dead” if details of the case became public.

The Guardian has obtained a copy of the recording, which was made in April 2015 as Goldsmith campaigned in the general election to retain his seat as an MP.


At the time, the police officer, José Manuel Villarejo, was combining his official duties with a now-notorious side business providing covert services to wealthy and powerful private clients in Spain.

The covert recording captures Villarejo suggesting to Sayn-Wittgenstein he would be “delighted” to help Zac Goldsmith and his brother, Ben, in their dispute with the tax authorities.

A Spanish judge who later reviewed the recording in a separate case unrelated to the Goldsmiths’ legal issues concluded there was no evidence Villarejo undertook any work on behalf of the Goldsmith brothers. Ben Goldsmith said they did not ask Sayn-Wittgenstein to contact Villarejo.
Advertisement

However, the secret recording sheds new light on the Spanish tax dispute and is likely to place further pressure on Goldsmith to address the case, which involves land linked to his family’s sprawling Costa del Sol estate, where Boris Johnson and his wife, Carrie, stayed on holiday in October.

The Marbella estate Boris Johnson stayed in.


The Guardian revealed last year that Spanish courts had ruled that property companies owned by Goldsmith and his brother engaged in a €24m tax evasion scheme.

Zac Goldsmith, a close ally of Johnson, has repeatedly declined to answer questions about the scheme, which courts have ruled amounted to a deliberate effort to evade tax and a “serious” violation of the law.

Documents suggest that by the end of 2021 companies connected to Zac and Ben Goldsmith owed as much as €26m (£21m) to the Spanish state in unpaid taxes and fines.

At the time of the recording – which Villarejo secretly made during a visit to Sayn-Wittgenstein’s £3.2m apartment in Belgravia – the tax case was winding its way through Spain’s lower courts, potentially threatening Zac Goldsmith’s political career. Just a few months later, he announced his bid to become London’s mayor.

A friend of Sayn-Wittgenstein is believed to have arranged the meeting with Villarejo due to concerns about the safety of her family after the end of her relationship with Juan Carlos.

Sipping green tea, Villarejo explained to Sayn-Wittgenstein that alongside his police duties he worked for private clients, boasting he had “a better intelligence service” than the Spanish government.

Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein.


“I have the infrastructure, I have electronic stuff, I have hackers and all that,” he told her. “I have tough people, serious people, and people who don’t exist.”

Villarejo agreed to help Sayn-Wittgenstein through his secretive law firm, named Stuart & Mckenzie, telling her there was “zero risk” in using his law firm since its operatives – including “former members of the CIA and FBI” – never knew the identities of his clients.

After almost an hour, Sayn-Wittgenstein and the friend, who was also present at the meeting, brought up a different topic: the Goldsmiths.

Sayn-Wittgenstein told Villarejo that Ben Goldsmith had visited her two days earlier and was concerned the tax case could harm his brother politically.

“What is his worry? His brother, Zac, is a Conservative MP,” Sayn-Wittgenstein told Villarejo. If the newspapers discovered the case, she added: “He’s dead. Company in the Cayman Islands, blah, blah, blah.”

Sayn-Wittgenstein’s mention of the Cayman Islands appears to be a reference to the offshore trust structure which, documents suggest, the Goldsmith family used to hold their property interests in Spain.

Asked to explain how Villarejo could help, Sayn-Wittgenstein and her associate told Villarejo that Ben Goldsmith was “re-evaluating the situation” in the wake of a recent court ruling that had gone in the Goldsmith brothers’ favour.

Explaining that Ben Goldsmith had asked to wait a few days, Sayn-Wittgenstein added: “Then he will come to us to see if we can help him resolve the case.”

Villarejo suggested to Sayn-Wittgenstein the brothers should contact his law firm. A source close to Sayn-Wittgenstein, a longstanding friend of Goldsmith family, said: “Ben never came back to Corinna on the issue because he wasn’t interested so that was the end of it.”

In a statement, Ben Goldsmith said neither he nor his brother, Zac, contacted Villarejo or his law firm. “We never approached any of the people you mention nor did we ever ask Corinna Sayn-Wittgenstein to do so.”

José Manuel Villarejo (front row, centre).


He said he once mentioned the tax case to Sayn-Wittgenstein at a social dinner. “It was only a number of years later that I found out from an article in the Spanish press that Corinna had taken it upon herself, without telling me, to find out more about our case and to see if she could help.”

Villarejo is now at the centre of a sweeping corruption scandal in Spain and currently on trial for charges including bribery and influence-peddling. He has denied wrongdoing, but did not respond to requests for comment.

His secret recording provides fresh insight into the tax dispute that ensnared the two firms co-owned by the Tory minister and his brother. Sayn-Wittgenstein explained to Villarejo the trouble began when the two brothers “bought some land” from their family. “They’ve done a financial operation to do a development,” she said.

On paper, the land was transferred in 2008 – two years before Zac Goldsmith became an MP – from one Goldsmith-owned company to another.

Court documents and land registry records suggest the land was segregated from a large area of land that forms part of the Goldsmith family’s sprawling estate in the hills surrounding the mountain village of Benahavís, near Marbella.

In 2013, Spain’s tax agency ordered the two Goldsmith-owned companies involved in the property transfer to pay a combined €24m in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties.

A Swiss lawyer for one of the companies involved previously denied the case amounted to “tax evasion”. Ben Goldsmith described the Spanish tax agency’s case as absurd and based “on a single and incorrect” valuation of land.

Inspectors alleged the companies significantly undervalued the value of the land when it was transferred between them, and failed to properly declare the financial gains arising from the deal by filing inaccurate tax returns

The Goldsmith companies appealed, but successive Spanish civil courts have found the deal allowed the companies to evade millions in taxes. Subsequent attempts to appeal at Spain’s supreme court failed in 2019.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Finalizes Broad Tariff Increases on Global Trade Partners
J.K. Rowling Limits Public Engagements Citing Safety Fears
JD.com Launches €2.2 Billion Bid for German Electronics Retailer Ceconomy
Azerbaijan Proceeds with Plan to Legalise Casinos on Artificial Islands
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
×