The Supreme Court has confirmed the sentence of seven years in prison that the Provincial Court of Madrid imposed on Teresa Rivero, widow of the deceased businessman Jose Maria Ruiz-Mateos, for a tax offense for eight million euros from Rayo Vallecano in 2009 and 2010, when she presided over the club.
In a ruling, the High Court also confirms the same penalty imposed on the ex-attorney of the club Jesus Fraile, while it reduces the fine and the compensation that Rayo must face, although it maintains its subsidiary civil liability for four million euros of the money defrauded.
The Madrid Court sentenced them on July 16, 2018 to this penalty for four crimes against the Public Treasury in relation to VAT and personal income tax of the entity for the years 2009 and 2010, considering that in both years and due to said taxes they defrauded a total of 8.4 million euros.
The penalty of a fine for each of them is also ratified for a total of 16.4 million euros, and they will also have to jointly compensate the Treasury in the amount defrauded of 8.4 million.
Condemn Friar
The Supreme Court has completely dismissed the appeals of Rivero and Fraile, who are sentenced to two years in prison for each of the two crimes related to income tax in 2009 and 2010, and another two years for the one related to VAT in 2009, and a year more for the VAT of 2010. In total, seven years in prison for each.
The High Court does partially uphold the appeal of the Rayo Vallecano club, whom the Madrid Court convicted of two crimes against the Public Treasury, one in relation to personal income tax for 2010 and the other with VAT for the same year, in the first case to payment of a fine of one million euros and in the second to another of 97,276 euros.
Likewise, he was sentenced to compensate the Treasury jointly with Rivero and Fraile for four million euros for personal income tax for 2010, and 389,000 euros for VAT for the same year.
The judgment of the Supreme Court, of which the magistrate has been rapporteur Eduardo de Porres, partially agrees with the club by highlighting that it was not appropriate to demand criminal responsibility from the entity for the events that occurred before the entry into force of the law that established the criminal responsibility of legal persons, which took place on 23 December 2010.
Condemn the Lightning
For this reason, it partially revokes the judgment of the Hearing on this point and acquits the commercial company Rayo Vallecano SAD of the crime of VAT fraud corresponding to 2010, since it is not established that in the fourth quarter of that year the tax avoidance exceeded 120,000 euros.
However, the Supreme Court establishes that it is appropriate to convict Rayo for the avoidance of personal income tax during the fourth quarter of 2010, and indicates that since the amount evaded in said period does not appear, the figure must be specified in the execution of the sentence by the Madrid Court .
Therefore, the club is convicted of a crime against the Public Treasury in relation to the payment of personal income tax during the fourth quarter of 2010 to the penalty of a quarter of the amount set as defrauded in that quarter.
And it will have to compensate jointly and severally with the other condemned to the Public Treasury to pay as civil liability for the entire amount defrauded during the fourth quarter of 2010.
In addition, the club is sentenced to the loss of the possibility of obtaining subsidies or public aid and the right to enjoy the benefits or tax incentives or Social Security during the period of nine months.
The Supreme Court maintains the rest of the pronouncements of the Court’s ruling, which included the subsidiary civil liability of the club with respect to compensation related to VAT and personal income tax for 2009 that Rivero and Fraile must pay, a total of four million euros.
