Jesus Santos

Jesús has been a partner at Baker McKenzie since 2012. He joined the Public Prosecutor’s Office in 1985, the same year he passed the competitive examinations for both the Prosecutor and Judicial careers. He arrived at the National Court Prosecutor’s Office in 1989 following the assassination of his colleague, Prosecutor Carmen Tagle. In September 1998, he was appointed Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the National Court, and from February 6 to May 17, 2006, he served as Acting Chief Prosecutor after the departure of Chief Prosecutor Eduardo Fungairiño.

During his tenure at the National Court, he served as Coordinator for International Judicial Cooperation, gaining substantial experience in managing extradition proceedings, European Arrest Warrants, and the transfer of convicted persons. In 2003, he was appointed Coordinator for Jihadist Terrorism. Throughout his distinguished prosecutorial career, he participated in numerous major cases involving financial and economic crime, including the “CISSA” case, Compañía Internacional de Seguros, Banco de Santander, carousel VAT fraud schemes, the “Air Madrid” case concerning alleged airline fraud, and fuel fraud matters involving hydrocarbon excise duties and VAT.

He also developed significant international experience, serving as a consultant to the United Nations through UNICRI and as a consultant and advisor to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

In March 2004, he was appointed Spain’s Liaison Magistrate to the Republic of Italy. While in this role, he was deeply involved in organized crime investigations through Italy’s National Anti-Mafia Directorate, as well as activities related to fraud affecting the financial interests of the European Union, in coordination with OLAF and the operational work carried out within EUROJUST.

Since joining Baker McKenzie, the Criminal Litigation Department he leads has been ranked in the top tier of the most prestigious international legal directories. The department is regarded as a leading criminal defense practice, having represented clients in some of the most prominent economic and corruption-related criminal proceedings (including cases such as Neymar, Defex, Gürtel – PP, Bankia, Francisco González, Emilio Saracho, Deloitte, OHL, ICBC, Rodolfo Martín Villa, among others).