IMF:s ex-chef åtalas för börsnotering av Bankia

Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo (born 18 March 1949) is a Spanish political figure who served in the government of Spain as Minister of the Economy from 1996 to 2004; a member of the conservative People's Party (PP), he was also First Deputy Prime Minister from 2003 to 2004. Subsequently he became Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and served from 2004 to 2007. He left the IMF on 31 October 2007, after the World Bank-IMF annual meetings. He was president of Bankia between 3 December 2010 and until its bankruptcy 7 May 2012. Rato was arrested on 16 April 2015 for alleged fraud, embezzlement and money laundering. His case was still awaiting trial a year later when his name appeared in the Panama Papers. Despite his prior assurances that he did not own companies in tax havens, apparently he used two offshore companies to avoid taxes on millions of euros kept overseas. It has been alleged that he owes taxes to both the Spanish and Panamanian governments. On 23 February 2017, Rato was found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to 4 ½ years' imprisonment.