The courts again adjust the treasury, acquitting businessmen of fraud

to list Cases lost by the Treasury Department in 2021Among them is a football player Gerrard Piqueactress Peace be upon you Or the Galician businessman Amancio OrtegaNow add those from Bridges websitebusinessman c.Mara Aristine or the former prosecutor Emilio Valerio.

One of the most recent cases uncovered is that of the former motorcycle racer and two-time 250cc World Champion. Bridges website. The Barcelona Court acquitted him at the end of December of the six tax crimes that the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Spanish Tax Agency accused him of, and for which he faced a 24-year prison sentence.

And the court established in the ruling that in the years between 2010 and 2014, Ponce – the team manager Bridge race– “He spent more than 200 days traveling around the world and was not tax resident in Spain, but in Monaco (2010 to 2012) and the UK (2013 to 2014)”. The sentence also stated that the athlete “as a taxpayer, has declared income derived from employment and self-employment, in addition to interest earned.”

Likewise, the judges determined that most of Ponce’s economic interests, financial assets and the core of its economic activity were concentrated and located outside Spanish territory, with the exception of some real estate located in Spain, according to Europa Press.

A similar case is the industrial case Jose Maria Aristrinwho was acquitted by the Madrid Regional Court in January 2022 of the crimes of tax fraud with which he was accused by the Public Prosecutor of Madrid Fraud on the public treasury 211 million Euros during the financial years from 2005 to 2009.

In a sentence, obtained by Europa Press, judges agreed to exempt the businessman from fifteen tax offenses for which the Public Ministry had demanded a 64-year prison sentence. They did so under the suspicion of the court when they deemed the tests “insufficient” to prove fraud.

The industrial prosecutor’s office demanded that he pay more than 210 million euros, as a civil obligation, and demanded that he be fined about 1,190 million euros.

But the judges decided to acquit him on the principle of “in dubio pro reo” because they concluded that the evidence presented was “insufficient” and did not allow proof that the defendant had simulated a move of his habitual residence during the years. 2005 to 2009, nor that the effective management of the company was in Spain.

Therefore, they said, “all factual grounds for the tax fraud offenses which are the basis of the accusation are lost.” The judgment states that “if it is not established that he was domiciled in Spain, or that he was managing the said company from Madrid, there is no reason to believe that he was bound to pay taxes by reason of such taxes.”

Another decision against the Treasury, in this case, was the Regional Court of Navarre which acquitted the former public prosecutor Emilio Valeriofor fraud against the Treasury Department, knowing there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

The prosecutor asked for a 38-year prison sentence and a fine of €4.5m for the alleged falsification of invoices to obtain the ‘undue return’. Value Added Tax (VAT) through their companies.

In a judgment of the Superior Court of Justice of Navarre (TSJN), compiled by Europa Press, it is explained that it has not been proven that the former public prosecutor acting in the dual capacity of a real partner and director of several companies “created a plot consisting of false invoices showing non-deliveries exist for goods and provide services from other companies” in order to achieve unjustified VAT refund.

In addition, the ruling indicated that it had not been proven that these invoices were fraudulent, nor that they did not respond to the provision of certain goods and services, “nor that this would lead to an unjustified refund from the regional treasury” of certain amounts. worth more than four million.

And it just so happens that in this particular case, the person who did the expert report on the former Attorney General’s companies was the one who was a director of the IRS between 1998 and 2001. Ignacio Ruiz Garabo. The chief civil servant, already retired and author of the book “Taxes or Freedom”, will participate in the European Parliament next January presenting a documentary film and giving a speech within the framework of the event “Can the Spanish treasury destroy the state” Right? To denounce IRS wrongdoing.

In a conversation with Europa Press, Ruiz-Jarabo offered that he would state in his presentation that the Spanish legal system is unbalanced and that the state has many powers in its favor that it does not use in a “rational and moderate” way. What’s more, he added that far from a “moderate” use of these “massive” powers, he’s using them to a “clearing blemish” in the case of the Treasury.

In Ruiz-Garabo’s opinion, this causes that in cases where the tax authorities lose in court, decisions arrive 5 or 6 years after the commencement of proceedings, which usually include forfeiture of assets, meaning that the damage caused is irreparable.

In addition, he lamented that there were no negative consequences for the inspectors, the prosecutor’s office, or the state attorney general when conducting inspections on tax agency They fail, and they understand that they must respond when harm is done unreasonably.

What’s more, he denounced that, far from suffering punishment, they usually “get away with it, if they do not take advantage of the universal reward” that inspectors usually receive for all their actions. “This is evil and demonic Because you get paid if you get more from the taxpayers,” he asserted, adding that it generates isolation and legal insecurity, especially for businessmen.

Although the data is not from 2022, the last known memory of the economic-administrative courts (2020), attached to the Treasury Department, reported that tax authorities lost half of the lawsuits against taxpayers. Thus, they won 45.26 percent of the cases that reached that state, while in 46.96 percent of the claims the judgment fell in favor of the Treasury Department.

On the other hand, in the field of community justice, he saw Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) It declared illegal the sanctions regime applied by the Treasury Department to taxpayers who fail to properly and timely declare their goods and assets abroad, concluding that it was a “disproportionate” measure contrary to EU law.