In the early hours of September 15th, 6:30am local time, Ibiza’s Ushuaïa Beach Hotel and Pacha were raided by local police as part of the ongoing operation that is looking into suspected tax fraud.
Operation Chopin launched with the raid of Amnesia earlier this summer, including the arrest of the club’s owner, his son and three other workers at the venue. The nationwide investigation continued with similar raids at Privilege and Space, all part of a total of 87 venues that are being looked into for possible tax evasion.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo stated that the Pacha and Ushuaïa were visited by police this morning, September 15th, at 6:30am and 8am respectively. Ibiza news outlet Diario De Ibiza reported that police also made a visit to the offices of Grupo Empresas Matutes (GEM), the parent company of Palladium Hotel Group that oversees Ushuaïa.
Authorities found millions in Euros in cash at both venues. It will now be up to authorities to verify if the cash was being recorded or not. A tax agent involved with the operation said: “Now we just have to verify if the amounts correspond to those declared in the companies’ accounting records.”
With Pacha now on sale for $500 million, Space Ibiza closing down, 6:30am morning curfews enforced by police and Operation Chopin in full force, many are left to wonder what is happening to Ibiza and how much the island will be changing in the coming years.
