Six years in prison, a fine of about 145,000 euros for each of the 19 defendants, and joint compensation of roughly 500 million for the Deposit Guarantee Fund (FGD) were determined by the Bank of Spain as the economic loss CAM allegedly financed between 2004 and 2009.
This sentence targets nine former directors of the savings bank, the former managing director, and several other individuals accused of improper allocation of funds or, alternatively, persistent mismanagement.
This constitutes the last case to be tried in the National Supreme Court regarding CAM’s management among seven cases that prompted complaints by the Fund in 2015. While some matters have been archived and reopened, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor sought acquittal on statute-of-limitations grounds. The events should be classified as unfair administration that would be punishable five years later, rather than embezzlement extending over a decade.
Broken plates of CAM
The described actions involve several moves by the entity. CAM and TIP, Tenedora de Inversiones y Participaciones, a company owning real estate (land not typically suited for urban development), are shown to have contributed land at inflated prices and acted as partners while TIP and CAM provided financing, as outlined in the indictment.
In this arrangement, CAM’s role appears in two capacities: as a shareholder and as a financier, which increases risk. A Bank of Spain report notes that these projects lack rigor in their planning and suffered from insufficient oversight by TIP and CAM, with failures evident across the board.
Second sentence for López Abad and first sentence for Gil for CAM management
The fund’s standalone charge states that investments in various companies approach the 600 million euro mark, of which 464 million are deemed irreversible losses. This deficit is recorded in the state budget and would require public assistance via the FGD, especially as CAM faced intervention and rescue due to threats to the Spanish financial system, according to Gómez-Jara.
The fund argues that the company arranged top-level protections for its executives and engaged in Caribbean business activities. As a subsidiary, CAM’s operations extended to La Ermita Resort SL, Dimehabitat SL, Promotions and Real Estate BlauverdMediterraneo SL, and NyesaViviendas Zaragoza SLU.
If no agreement ends the proceedings, López Abad will stand trial for the seventh time, and Gil for the third time. The fund attributes personal management of the financial institution to both men and points to these transactions as evidence. The National Supreme Court’s prior ruling on CAM’s Caribbean operations serves as crucial precedent; in that decision, both acted, by mutual consent, as de facto directors of CAM through TIP, which remains wholly owned by the bank.
He appeared in the courtroom for Modesto Crespo’s diets. The court’s editor-in-chief analyzed the last CAM session in relation to allowances.
The former CEO faced a firm belief that diets claimed against him were wrongful, alongside additional Caribbean business matters involving Juan Ferri and José Baldó; a decision was pending before the Supreme Court. Gil received the same sentence in the related case and appealed.
The Fund evaluates the cases together with the former TIP managing director, focusing on ongoing fund diversion concerns. Six former directors and ten involved entrepreneurs faced similar questions, with the same sentencing framework for all 19 defendants.
Only eight of CAM’s nearly fifty former executives have achieved final convictions across the seven cases brought by the bank’s administration. Some financial outcomes were saved in two proceedings: the Caribbean case and the Crespo diets. Amounts involved include nearly 13 million and 28 million euros in the first case, and around 600,000 euros in another.
The other six CAM proceedings
1. WRONG ACCOUNTS
Convictions were handed to former judges Roberto López Abad, Dolores Amorós, Francisco Martínez, and Teófilo Sorgorb for altering CAM’s accounts, with the Supreme Court handing down sentences ranging from 1.6 years to two years for Amorós and Sogorb.
2. MODESTO CRESPO DIETS
The Supreme Court upheld sentences for Modesto Crespo (9 months), López Abad (2 years), and former directors José Forner, Antonio Gil-Terrón, Martín Sevilla, and Luis Esteban, with minor reductions, totaling 600,000 euros that Crespo received.
3. BUSINESS IN THE CARIBBEAN
López Abad and Daniel Gil were sentenced to two years for similar offenses as Juan Ferri and José Baldó in the Caribbean operation.
4. RELATIONS WITH HANSA
The court acquitted former directors Amorós, Daniel Gil, and Vicente Sánchez, along with organizer Rafael Galea, of irregularities in the relations between the bank and the company.
5. LOAN/DIET AVILE
The Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of the former head of the control commission for loans and allowances involving López Abad and Juan Ramón Avilés.
6. FEES AND PREFERENCES
The case concerning López Abad and Amorós regarding certain financial products did not proceed after charges were withdrawn.