The Palma Court has acquitted a 66-year-old Dutch hotelier of corporate crime and embezzlement. The court considers that it has not been proven that he falsified the accounts of the company he managed with his ex-wife at a rural hotel in Sóller.
The First Section of the Provincial Court of Palma has acquitted a 66-year-old hotel businessman of Dutch origin, with no criminal record, of the corporate and embezzlement crimes alleged by the Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution. The events date back to an accounting adjustment of €62,500 made on December 30, 2016, in the company managing a well-known rural hotel on the outskirts of Sóller, in the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana, of which the accused and his ex-wife were partners.
The court concludes that it has not been proven that the accounting entry was false, but rather that it corresponds to a monetary disposition of the company over which both ex-spouses have a different interpretation. “There is controversy between the partners,” states the ruling, which adds that “this does not mean that the accounting entry is false” and that the disagreement should be resolved in civil, not criminal, court.
The woman argued that the loan of €62,500, which increased her debt with the company to €121,500, was for both partners. The accused, on the other hand, claimed that it was a unilateral loan from her. The court emphasizes that “the very controversy regarding the reason for the accounting entry prevents it from being classified as false,” thus lacking the objective element of the crime of accounting falsification.
Regarding the crime of embezzlement, the Court considers that “there has been no appropriation whatsoever” by the accused. The Prosecutor's Office had requested three years in prison and a fine of twelve months at a daily rate of twelve euros, as well as compensation of €62,500 for civil liability. The private prosecution also sought a conviction, but the court has exonerated the businessman, understanding that the evidence presented was insufficient to undermine his presumption of innocence.
The accused was appointed liquidator of the company, although he had not yet formally accepted the position when he made the accounting adjustment. The ruling, which is not yet final and can be appealed to the High Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJB), orders the lifting of any precautionary measures that may have been imposed on the hotelier or the company.
The case has had repercussions in the tourism sector of the Ponent region, where the rural hotel is a benchmark. For the residents of Sóller and the Serra de Tramuntana, the judicial resolution puts an end to a process that has lasted nearly a decade, since the withdrawals of money made by the ex-wife on September 29, 2014, which led to the accounting adjustment of 2016.
The ruling makes it clear that the controversy between the partners regarding the balance and liquidation must be resolved in accordance with the Capital Companies Act, but not in criminal court. Meanwhile, the businessman is free of all charges and can continue his professional activity without the restrictions imposed by the precautionary measures.
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