The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court reduced from 3 to 2 years in prison a conviction handed down by the Seville court against the former president of Invercaria, Tomás Pérez Sauquillo, for the granting in 2008 of a loan of 300,000 euros without any justification to a company in Jaén.
The High Court reduced his sentence to apply reform of the offense of embezzlement promoted by the government in 2022 for the benefit of people convicted for the Catalan “trial”.
Pérez Sauquillo, former president from Invercaria, the public investment and risk capital management company of the Junta de Andalucía under the PSOE governments, He was convicted in December 2021 for crimes of prevarication and embezzlement for granting a participatory loan to the company Fumapa de Jaén and, in doing so, as established by the Court of Seville, “arbitrarily, without justification and without following established procedures.
The beneficiary company was on that date in the process of being dissolved due to the progressive deterioration of its assets and its lack of liquidity.
This caused a damage to the Andalusian Agency for Innovation and Development (IDEA), to which Invercaria was related.
Sauquillo was sentenced to 3 years and 1 day in prison and 6 years of absolute disqualification. The sole administrator of Fumapa, Fulgencio Canales, was sentenced for inciting embezzlement to 1 year and 6 months in prison and 3 years of absolute ban. The mitigating circumstance of unjustified delays was applied to both cases.
The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Pérez Sauquillo, the only one of the two convicts who appealed, with the exception of the retroactive application of the reform of the crime of embezzlement approved in December 2022, because it was more beneficial for the prisoner.
In a judgment presented by Judge Eduardo de Porres, the Criminal Chamber explains that, since it was a set of crimes, the minimum sentence increased by one day (3 years and 1 day in prison) was imposed for reasons such as Now, with the same criterion of individualization and with the new penalty established by Organic Law 14/2022, the penalty of 2 years and 1 day in prison would have been imposed, which it establishes.
The criterion extends to the non-recurring convicted person, the sole director of the company having obtained the loan, whose sentence is reduced to 1 year and 1 day in prison.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court corrects the error of considering those imposed on the two convicts as absolute prohibitions, which did not correspond to the crimes assessed, and establishes that they will be special prohibitions for any elective position or designation contracting powers. in companies of any administration, for 6 years in the case of Pérez Sauquillo and 3 years in that of the second convict.
The High Court ratifies the sentence of the two accused to jointly compensate the IDEA agency to the tune of 300,000 euros.
The judgment rejects the rest of the arguments in Pérez Sauquillo’s appeal, emphasizing that the finding of guilt established by the Seville court “is supported by an abundant body of evidence on which no allegation has been made that would allow a questioning of question the content of the accusation or its rational assessment, which is why we do not appreciate the violation of the right to the presumption of innocence which is invoked.
He adds that “the evidence shows that the participatory loan granted to Fumapa was not granted on market conditions given the technical bankruptcy of the company, without there being a business plan and without guarantees are required for its recovery and control.” the loan therefore in reality concealed aid to an economically unviable company. As proof, the judgment cites the report published by the Andalusian Chamber of Accounts on 03/17/2009 and the fact that the administrator of Fumapa himself gave instructions for the money received to be considered as a subsidy.
More convictions
Last September, the criminal court increased Pérez Sahuquillo’s sentence to 4 years and 6 months in prison. for having “arbitrarily” increased the salary to 152,000 euros annual. The Seville court sentenced him to two years and three months in prison.
Qérez-Sauquillo He had an initial contract in 2005 of 108,182 euros with Invercaria, which later increased by his own decision to 142,552 euros in 2007, 152,006 in 2008 and 140,472 in 2009.
