Spanish Billionaire Perez Goes to Court Over Iberdrola Spy Scandal

(Bloomberg) --

Spanish billionaire Florentino Perez is joining plaintiffs in a criminal probe of Iberdrola SA over allegations the power company spied on him to thwart a hostile takeover.

Iberdrola hired an off-duty police commissioner in 2009 to spy on Perez and help fight a takeover bid by ACS, the construction company he ran, Spanish website El Confidencial reported on Monday. Perez, who is also chairman of Real Madrid football club, is one of Spain’s most high-profile business figures.

El Confidencial reported that Iberdrola hired Jose Manuel Villarejo to gather “compromising” personal information on Perez shortly after ACS boosted its stake in the Spanish power utility to 12.6%. Perez is chairman and the biggest shareholder in the firm, whose full name is ACS, Actividades de Construccion y Servicios.

Iberdrola declined to comment, according to a press officer who referred to a previous statement in which the company said it had opened an internal investigation into allegations regarding Villarejo and Iberdrola. An ACS press officer confirmed Perez was joining the case and declined to comment further.

According to El Confidencial’s reports, Villarejo worked closely with Iberdrola’s head of security, Antonio Asenjo, who was let go last month.

Iberdrola is the second major Spanish company tainted by spying scandals involving Villarejo. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA was declared a criminal suspect over hiring Villarejo to allegedly spy on politicians, corporate rivals and journalists. On Nov. 15, a judge placed BBVA’s long-time chairman Francisco Gonzalez under formal investigation for bribery and unlawful disclosure of secrets.

Spanish media has been riveted by the stories of Villarejo, who has been in prison since 2017 after disclosures that he ran private investigation services while at the same time holding a high-ranking police job. Villarejo has denied wrondoing and has said he worked as an undercover policeman.

The scandal led BBVA’s Gonzalez, who retired from the bank late last year, to step down from his remaining positions, such as honorary chairman.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at rorihuela@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Charles Penty at cpenty@bloomberg.net, Todd White

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