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Rodrigo Rato
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Rodrigo Rato
Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo (born 18 March 1949) is a businessman and politician who served in the Council of Ministers of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He also served as the ninth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2004 to 2007 and the president of Bankia from 2010 to 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 was alleged that he owed taxes to both the Spanish and Panamanian governments.
On 23 February 2017, Rato was found guilty of embezzlement of about 100,000 euros from Bankia, the bank where he worked, in the case of the so-called "black cards". He was sentenced to 4½ years' imprisonment. In September 2018, the sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Spain, and Rato entered prison on 25 October 2018.
Rodrigo de Rato was born in Madrid, into a rich textile-owning family from Asturias. He is the great-grandson of politician Faustino Rodríguez-San Pedro y Díaz-Argüelles and the son of businessman Ramón Rato who was jailed in 1967 for tax evasion to Switzerland through his Banco Siero, and of Aurora Figaredo Sela. Both the Rato and the Figaredo sides of his family owned industries and nobility titles. Rato attended a Jesuit school Our Lady of Remembrance College, Madrid before studying law in the Complutense University.
In 1971 Rato went to University of California, Berkeley, and received an MBA in 1974 from the Haas School of Business.
In 1975 Rato became involved in the family business, first in Fuensanta, an Asturian mineral water company, and then in two Madrid construction firms. He also became involved in expanding the Cadena Rato chain of radio stations.
In 1977 Rato joined the newly formed Popular Alliance (AP), a party containing former ministers of Franco, founded by Manuel Fraga, a close personal friend of his father. In December 1979 Rato was elected to the national executive committee, and became secretary of the AP economic commission. In February 1981 he became one of the party's five Secretaries-General, and was considered to be their economic expert. He supported tight controls on public spending, and an emphasis on the supply side of economics. In October 1982 he won election as an AP member of the Congress of Deputies for Cádiz in spite of having no connection to this Andalucian town. He represented the area until 1989 and subsequently represented Madrid from 1989 to 2000.
The 1982 election handed a loss to the AP, and marked the beginning of the long rule of the PSOE and Felipe González. Until 1984 Rato was the Secretary of the parliamentary group. He then became their economic affairs spokesman where he impressed the party with his attacks on the PSOE's economic policies. He was seen to be on the liberal wing of the party.
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Rodrigo Rato
Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo (born 18 March 1949) is a businessman and politician who served in the Council of Ministers of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He also served as the ninth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2004 to 2007 and the president of Bankia from 2010 to 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 was alleged that he owed taxes to both the Spanish and Panamanian governments.
On 23 February 2017, Rato was found guilty of embezzlement of about 100,000 euros from Bankia, the bank where he worked, in the case of the so-called "black cards". He was sentenced to 4½ years' imprisonment. In September 2018, the sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Spain, and Rato entered prison on 25 October 2018.
Rodrigo de Rato was born in Madrid, into a rich textile-owning family from Asturias. He is the great-grandson of politician Faustino Rodríguez-San Pedro y Díaz-Argüelles and the son of businessman Ramón Rato who was jailed in 1967 for tax evasion to Switzerland through his Banco Siero, and of Aurora Figaredo Sela. Both the Rato and the Figaredo sides of his family owned industries and nobility titles. Rato attended a Jesuit school Our Lady of Remembrance College, Madrid before studying law in the Complutense University.
In 1971 Rato went to University of California, Berkeley, and received an MBA in 1974 from the Haas School of Business.
In 1975 Rato became involved in the family business, first in Fuensanta, an Asturian mineral water company, and then in two Madrid construction firms. He also became involved in expanding the Cadena Rato chain of radio stations.
In 1977 Rato joined the newly formed Popular Alliance (AP), a party containing former ministers of Franco, founded by Manuel Fraga, a close personal friend of his father. In December 1979 Rato was elected to the national executive committee, and became secretary of the AP economic commission. In February 1981 he became one of the party's five Secretaries-General, and was considered to be their economic expert. He supported tight controls on public spending, and an emphasis on the supply side of economics. In October 1982 he won election as an AP member of the Congress of Deputies for Cádiz in spite of having no connection to this Andalucian town. He represented the area until 1989 and subsequently represented Madrid from 1989 to 2000.
The 1982 election handed a loss to the AP, and marked the beginning of the long rule of the PSOE and Felipe González. Until 1984 Rato was the Secretary of the parliamentary group. He then became their economic affairs spokesman where he impressed the party with his attacks on the PSOE's economic policies. He was seen to be on the liberal wing of the party.
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