Although the bankruptcy of Pescanova SA (formerly Pescanova) may sometimes seem like a fact coming out of a faded newspaper library, the case still awaits a final judicial decision According to the decision of the National Court, Manuel Fernández de Sousa must decide whether he should go to jail.
On October 6, 2020, the court sentenced the businessman to prison after an indefinite trial due to COVID disruptions. eight years in prison, in addition to prison sentences for the Praetorian executive guard. And for the first time in Spain, he imprisoned an auditor (BDO’s Santiago Sañé). The pending decision already has a date: February 1, 2023.
Five Supreme Court judges will meet that day, FARO has learned. Legal sources, “The judges will meet to discuss and decide on the draft sentence prepared by the rapporteur.” From there, Sousa will find out in about a month if she’s behind bars. The rapporteur of this draft resolution, Judge Manuel Marchena.
The proven facts of the National Court’s decision reveal how, as a result of the financial crisis that began to be identified in 2008, the head of the multinational fishing company was able to continue to benefit from the bank financing to which Pescanova was dependent. for the investment studies carried out in the past years, with a group of people he trusts, including those responsible for the administrative and financial departments, continue to provide financing through a set of mechanisms or unregulated practices to continue providing bank financing.
Once this funding has been secured, another series manipulations in annual accounts or other official documents reflecting the financial position of the company “to achieve positive results that do not correspond to the real situation and that after the official release make it possible to attract new investors and eliminate bank financing and excessive commissions” .