Andorran judge Joan Carles Moynat credits the sale of at least 38 smuggled watches totaling 1,354,650.43 euros to Spanish elite footballers. The judge accuses entrepreneur Diego Giménez Carbonell, owner of Best In Asociados, of "importing large quantities of watches with a value equal to or greater than 50,000 euros" over the past four years to sell them, without paying the required taxes, to international football players like Dani Carvajal, Santi Cazorla, César Azpilicueta, Thomas Partey, and some retired players like David Silva.
According to the judicial investigation summary from the Principality, accessed by EL MUNDO, this entrepreneur, accused by the judge of smuggling and money laundering, and against whom a prison order has been issued, obtained the watches by instructing "individuals" to purchase them in Andorra and then selling them "mostly to professional football players".
The Andorran justice system discovered that entrepreneur Giménez Carbonell, through these transactions, made "repeated and numerous cash deposits" into his Andorran bank accounts totaling at least 220,490 euros and acquired "luxury vehicles" after these smuggling operations.
The summary emphasizes that the majority of the detained individual's clientele consists of "professional footballers with high purchasing power" and questions the credibility of the mastermind's statement to Andorran authorities that players sent individuals to Andorra to collect the watches. "His statements are not very convincing," concludes the judge. It was also found that he acquired other watches through intermediaries in jewelry stores in Spain, France, or England and exported some to the Asian market through an entity based in Hong Kong.
The investigation began last September when Giménez was caught entering Spain "with two watches he had just imported" worth 104,000 euros and was wearing them. His client list was then investigated, revealing, among others, Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal and retired footballer David Silva. Both were immediately contacted by the Spanish Tax Agency, and the entrepreneur agreed with them to pay a "compensation" to cover the tax penalties.
Among his most prominent clients, who will soon have to appear as suspects, is Carvajal, who paid 64,800 euros for a Rolex Daytona Platinum. Silva, on the other hand, paid 295,000 euros for four Patek Philippe watches. One of the highest spenders in the scheme was Thomas Partey during his time at Arsenal, who spent 415,000 euros on three Patek Philippe watches. Eibar's defender Juan Bernat paid 367,000 euros for three Patek Philippe and a Rolex, while other athletes like Giovani Lo Celso (Betis) ordered watches from the scheme totaling 83,000 euros.
The Andorran case also includes agreements between these players and the detained entrepreneur when they began receiving tax evasion claims from the tax authorities. For example, David Silva agreed with Giménez Carbonell in March 2022 to pay him the 26,279.63 euros demanded by the tax authorities for a watch valued at 120,000 euros plus associated penalties and interests. In this contract between both parties, as one of the examples found, it states that the watch was delivered in San Sebastián by an employee of the detainee "without declaring the corresponding import of the watch to Spanish customs or paying the VAT resulting from said importation."