Spanish Banking Executive Found Dead on Hunting Estate: Reports

Spanish Banking Executive Found Dead on Hunting Estate: Reports
Caja Madrid's former head Miguel Blesa leaves a hearing in Madrid on October 16, 2014 (DANI POZO/AFP/Getty Images)
Jack Phillips
7/19/2017
Updated:
7/25/2017

A former Spanish banking executive was found dead with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to reports.

His body was found at a private hunting estate in Spain, Spain’s Civil Guard confirmed on Wednesday, CBS News reported.

A spokesperson said that the 69-year-old’s death is not a homicide.

Blesa, who was head of the Caja Madrid savings bank, was appealing a six-year prison term for misusing corporate credit cards, CBS reported.

Witnesses said that he was at the hunting estate near Cordoba when he left the group on Wednesday, saying he was heading out to his car. The BBC reported that witnesses then heard a shot and his body was found.

Spanish authorities are reportedly now investigating his possible suicide. He was a frequent hunter who had a gun license.

In 2013, leaked photos showed him on hunting trips—posing with a rifle next to the bodies of animals, including a hippopotamus, a bear, an oryx, and a lion, the New York Times reported.

He chaired the bank from 1996 to 2010, a period coinciding with an economic boom followed by a devastating bust in Spain.

Caja Madrid was merged with six other savings banks in 2010 to form the ill-fated lender Bankia.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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