Alvise Pérez spent a good part of his campaign for the last European elections talking to a businessman from the cryptocurrency sector who, according to what the Public Prosecutor’s Office is currently investigating, gave him 100,000 euros in cash to finance his political adventure. The messages reflect the gratitude of the then candidate, now a Member of the European Parliament: “Everything is fine! Thanks 100,000, Luis,” Alvise wrote to his interlocutor after receiving the sum from one of the businessman’s collaborators. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is currently analyzing whether this money was used to finance his campaign and whether he may have committed an illegal financing crime.
This communication appears in the chain of messages that the founder of the Madeira Invest Club (MIC), the investment office sponsored by the far-right agitator and which closed unexpectedly last week, delivered on September 19 to the prosecutor’s office. A confession document that was accompanied by conversations in which Alvise participated and that the businessman provided with an expert report that proves its veracity.
On Tuesday afternoon, this newspaper tried to contact the MEP via his phone, email and one of his advisors and did not receive a response. This Wednesday, Alvise addressed his supporters in a video in which he does not explain the information from elDiario.es, he limits himself to announcing the arrival of a “catharsis” and alludes to the “media mafia”.
As elDiario.es revealed exclusively this Tuesday, Alvise contacted the founder of MIC at the end of March. For weeks, they talked about cryptocurrencies and the economic and logistical needs of the leader of Se Acabó La Fiesta to finance his candidacy. On May 25, the businessman opened several digital wallets or wallets to channel donations from their subscribers.
In the following days, the founder of MIC informed her of the money that was coming in. By May 26, she had already collected just over 7,000 euros. But the amount did not seem to be enough to cover the expenses of her career with the European Parliament. “Excellent! But it’s going too slowly. Time is eating away at me for campaign payments,” Alvise replied.
A few hours later, in the early morning of May 27, the businessman informed him that he had made a “check” and that he could recover the 100,000 euros from the offices of Sentinel, a cash custody system that includes 5,000 safes and other assets in complete anonymity in a bunker located in the heart of the capital.
“You make possible for me an urgent part of the campaign. Thank you very much, man,” Alvise replied in these messages provided to the prosecutor’s office by the businessman. The delivery, as explained in the letter, was successfully made on May 27 at 4 p.m. by an employee. “They already told me that everything was fine,” the businessman wrote.
Alvise Pérez’s response was one of gratitude. “Everything is fine! Thanks 100,000, Luis,” Alvise said according to these messages. Money and financing were no longer a topic of conversation between the two men in the following weeks. A little over a week later, Alvise Pérez and the SALF culminated their electoral career with more than 800,000 votes and three MEPs after a campaign characterized by the austerity that Alvise himself boasted about: a cap, a megaphone and ballots printed by himself to prevent an electoral fraud that never took place.
In these messages, Alvise suggests that he will use this money to finance his campaign and his political adventure after explaining that one of his needs was to be able to escape the control of the Court of Auditors. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has forwarded all this information to the Supreme Court’s Office, with which Alvise is registered as a Member of the European Parliament, in case he could have irregularly financed his group of voters.
The law on party financing prohibits anonymous donations and establishes that political parties cannot accept or receive directly or indirectly from the same person donations exceeding 50,000 euros per year, nor donations from legal entities. Furthermore, any donation exceeding 25,000 euros must be notified to the Court of Auditors by the political party within three months of its acceptance.
The Madeira Invest Club closed suddenly last Monday, September 16. Until then, it had captivated hundreds of investors thanks to the exorbitant returns it offered, up to 53%, with supposed investments in digital and intangible works of art and other luxury goods. The National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) issued an alert on this investment club on May 22, 2023 and warned that the company was not authorized to carry out the activities reserved for collective investment organizations.
The National Court has already received several complaints from affected persons, who have filed complaints against those responsible for crimes of fraud, embezzlement, criminal organization, falsification of commercial documents or money laundering. In his letter to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Romillo proposes to liquidate his assets to compensate the investors, who could number several hundred and who would have lost tens of millions of euros, according to the aforementioned complaints.
