Police in Spain have arrested a 20-year-old who is suspected of posing as a member of Spain’s elite and who reportedly got himself photographed shaking hands with the Spanish king. Francisco Nicolas Gomez Iglesias — known as “Little Nicholas” — has appeared in media photographs alongside a string of top political figures.
His most audacious exploit was to sneak uninvited into a reception for the crowning of Spain’s King Felipe VI in June, when he was photographed in a suit and tie, bowing and shaking the monarch’s hand. Police arrested Gomez last week, accusing him of passing himself off as a government adviser and asking a top businessman for a 25,000 euro (US$31,600) commission to act as a go-between in a real-estate deal.
One person who had dealings with the suspect, Miguel Bernad of the far-right pressure group Manos Limpias, said Gomez had held a dozen meetings with him posing as a representative of the royal palace. He said Gomez offered to mediate in a lawsuit the association is waging against the king’s sister, Princess Cristina.
“He seemed totally credible to me. He had cars, bodyguards. It did not seem like a bluff,” Bernad told reporters.
Gomez’s lawyer Israel Paz said on the radio that his client “never impersonated anyone, because he always acted under his own name.” Paz has since stopped talking to journalists about the affair.
Among the personalities Gomez has managed to rub shoulders with are Spain’s conservative former prime minister Jose Maria Aznar and former IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato. He reportedly collected pictures of the meetings, showing them on Facebook and using them to impress people and make contacts.
“The photographs were his tool. He turned up for business meetings with his photo album,” an El Mundo report said.
In the case of the royal reception, the palace has insisted Gomez must have been brought in by one of the official guests, but it remains unclear who might be responsible.
It is also unclear how Gomez, who is said to be from a modest family, but is studying law at a private university in Madrid, was able to mix within elite circles without arousing suspicion.
The judge investigating the allegations wrote in a ruling that she “could not understand how a young man of 20, merely on the strength of his word ... could get into those conferences, venues and functions without raising an alert.”
A medical report on Gomez said he had “a colorful, delusional, megalomaniac way of thinking.”
El Mundo reported that Gomez started making contacts at the age of 15 in the think tank FAES, chaired by Aznar and run by Spain’s ruling Popular Party.
“This kid could handle public relations like no one else,” the newspaper quoted Spain’s junior trade minister Jaime Garcia-Legaz as saying. “He offered to bring us all the best pupils from the best schools — and he delivered.”
Popular Party sources however denied that Gomez had any “official link” with it or its youth branch, New Generations. Police compared Gomez to the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Catch Me If You Can, based on a real-life fraudster who swindled millions of dollars by posing in various guises.
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