The defendant in a fraud case involving the export of 189 tons of chicken feet has dissociated himself from the operation and claimed he was stepping away from the company when the events occurred. The trial reached a verdict yesterday at the Provincial Court of Alicante, where the prosecutor and the private prosecutor maintained a demand for three years in prison. Alternatively, they asked for a conviction for embezzlement. (Source: Alicante Provincial Court)
The accused had led a meat export business based in a warehouse in Villena, distributing to Vietnam, Hong Kong, and South Africa. In May 2017 he signed an agreement with another company to sell eight containers containing 189 tons of chicken feet, for which they collected a down payment of 59,000 euros. The buyers filed a complaint because the meat was not delivered and the money was not returned. (Source: Alicante Provincial Court)
“I do not know why the containers did not reach their destination; the order was shipped,” the defendant asserted, stressing that the plant had ample capacity to take the order. He explained that at that time the company was facing difficulties, with health inspections and layoffs, while he faced a divorce and had decided to disengage by signing a power of attorney so someone else could replace him as administrator. “I could not disengage completely, so in all respects I remained listed as the administrator,” he said. According to his explanations, the money paid was used to finance advance purchases and ongoing operating costs. (Source: Alicante Provincial Court)
The person stepping into the administrative role said that his duties were limited to organizing work and that he never handled the money from orders. The warehouse owner, who had been dismissed months earlier, testified that the plant did not have the capacity to take on those orders. “There was no means to produce anything there, only scrap,” she said, emphasizing that the facilities were left damaged, with numerous defects and an unpaid last year’s rent. She added that Health authorities had temporarily closed the facilities that year and, months later, the Labour Inspectorate closed them permanently. (Source: Alicante Provincial Court)
“It seemed like a theater.”
The plaintiffs said the accused contacted them to offer the products. When the container did not arrive, they asked the defendant for explanations and arranged a visit to the facilities, where even he did not receive them. The visit left them dissatisfied. “It looked like a theater,” they said. Upon arrival they saw about twenty people waiting at the door, and inside they were shadowed as they began work, but there was no sense that a real operation was taking place. They also claimed that the cold chain was not respected in the refrigeration chambers, according to the plant manager. (Source: Alicante Provincial Court)
The prosecutor and the private prosecutor maintain that the fraud was committed because the accused knew he could not take on these orders. Still, they stressed that the claimants paid for a product they did not receive and did not get their money back. The defense questioned the testimony of the two former collaborators of the accused, noting that they were at odds with him due to the company’s problems. The defense pointed out that another trial for similar facts involving a different company ended in acquittal because the dispute should have been resolved through civil channels. (Source: Alicante Provincial Court)
The trial had previously been suspended on three occasions and this Wednesday it almost faced another postponement after the defense submitted late documentation about the shipment of the order. (Source: Alicante Provincial Court)