José María Aristrain, the latest assault by the Prosecutor’s Office against the steel magnate for the management of his fortune

2023-09-22 22:28:24

José María Aristrain de la Cruz is among the 25 greatest fortunes in Spain and his name has been linked to the steel sector for almost three decades. Heir and owner of ArcelorMittal, there are few photos of this businessman from Gipuzkoa, although born in France, and the most current ones are in the dock. This week the steel magnate has returned to the Provincial Court of Madrid to be tried for, supposedly, illegally maneuvering to avoid losing a house, while he waits for the judges to declare his acquittal final. the biggest trial in the history of Spain for an accusation of tax fraud of more than 200 million euros.

Aristrain inherited from his father, José María Aristrain Noain, the aceristic empire that later became Aceralia and increased his influence and fortune in its transformation into ArcelorMittal, leaving behind the industrial reconversion and the million-dollar cascade of capital gains and profits that filled his pockets. at the end of the nineties. Aristrain’s money then began to travel to Holland and Luxembourg, with tax regimes much more favorable than Spain’s, and the Treasury began to suspect that he was not only trying to save taxes, but that he was doing so illegally by pretending to live in Switzerland.