The trial of a Valencian notary accused of having falsified the will of an elderly woman with no direct descendants and suffering from brain damage in 2012 takes place against the backdrop of the battle for the millionaire estate left by the deceased: 12.1 million euros. The will, signed by the woman with her fingerprint, included as main heir the Gozalbo Marqués Foundation, a social assistance entity founded in Madrid by the deceased a few months before she suffered her first stroke. She also bequeathed to her late husband’s nephews, also patrons of the entity. The president of the foundation, retired general José Luis MC, and the priest Javier RM, patron of the entity, received a total of 650,000 euros. In addition, the head of administration and the tax advisor of the old woman obtained an inheritance of 650,000 euros each. If the will is declared invalid, the funds will go to the Generalitat Valenciana, according to regional regulations. Manuel MP, the first cousin of the deceased who reported the facts to the Prosecutor’s Office, would take a small part of the inheritance if the Autonomous Administration had the possibility of inheriting intestate (legal term which refers to the procedure for allocating property ). in the event of a void will).
The last session of the trial, held this Friday before the second section of the Provincial Court of Valencia, included the testimony of the experts and the accused, the notary María José FV. All heirs, present in the courtroom, appear as participants. for profit for the alleged offense of falsification of a public document. The president of the court had to ask priest Javier RM to stop gesticulating and commenting on the statement of three medical experts (“He’s been doing that all day,” he warned).
The deceased, widow of the famous Valencian lawyer Luis GJ, amassed an enormous estate which constitutes the heart of the trial in which the notary faces a request for a five-year prison sentence for an alleged offense of falsification of a public document. , in addition to a special ban on practicing his profession as a notary for five years
The will, to which elDiario.es had access, indicates that the notary considered that the woman with brain damage had the “necessary legal capacity” to grant her a millionaire inheritance. This newspaper also had access to the act of acceptance of inheritance, signed before another notary by José Luis MC as president of the charitable, Catholic and non-profit foundation.
He is a retired Air Force major general who appears as the sole director of Riola Fruits SL and Esla Compañía de Inversiones SA, according to data registered in the commercial register. The two companies were the property of the deceased and appear in the will as debtors of the legacies.
Esla Compañía de Inversiones SA, dedicated to the rental of real estate, has a net worth of 9.6 million euros. The expert in charge of the real estate appraisal, proposed by the insurance company’s defense, mentioned a total of “57 properties” during the trial. The retired general explained during the first session of the hearing that he trusted the notary and stressed that he chairs a “non-profit foundation”.
“They all took advantage of it”, according to the Lawyers
“The Generalitat Valenciana is harmed by this alleged crime of lying,” said the lawyer from the Lawyers’ Office in her report of conclusions. The representative of the Generalitat Prosecutor’s Office concluded that during the hearing, the “trajín” of her late husband’s nephews at the Aigües Vives hospital in Alzira (València) had been proven, after the woman, then aged 80 years old, had suffered two strokes. “Everyone benefited from the amount of the inheritance,” he remembers.
The lawyer for the Generalitat Prosecutor’s Office also indicated that during the three hearings of the trial, it was “proven” that the accused had “seriously failed” in her professional obligations.
For her part, the notary declared that she knew the elderly lady through her professional relations with her husband who died during his previous mission. The accused reported that on August 24, 2012, she went to the Aigües Vives de Alzira Hospital, a center specializing in patients with brain injuries, and that she was able to “interact” with the woman, asking him “contrast questions”. “He moved his hand, he held her hand and squeezed it, he moved his eyes and his head,” he said when asked by the prosecutor.
The woman, according to the accused, contacted her before the first stroke to discuss her plan to create a foundation and her succession plans. In August 2012, after suffering two strokes, the deceased husband’s nephew, Joaquín FP, telephoned the notary to have the elderly woman sign the will at the Aigües Vives center. The notary said she had “no interest” in signing the will (“neither in this one nor in any other,” she added).
“He could express himself, he showed emotions and he could understand and answer the questions I asked him. We proceeded point by point, I explained it to him and made sure he understood,” said the notary.
On the contrary, the prosecutor considered that, as the experts “clearly stated”, the elderly woman “did not have the capacity” to make a will of such complexity. A “flagrant, clear and absolutely glaring” situation, according to the representative of the public prosecutor, who declared in the presentation of her conclusions that “the evidence was sufficiently convincing”.
For his part, the lawyer for the insurance company with which the notary had taken out a policy linked to his professional practice and which is considered directly responsible, indicated that the accused “does not benefit from coverage” in this case. The policy, he added, does not cover “deliberate actions.”
The experts: two neurologists and a forensic expert
Three medical experts also appeared during the final session of the trial: a forensic expert from the Institute of Forensic Medicine proposed by the prosecution and two neurologists (one proposed by the foundation’s defense and another by the insurance company). . The coroner said that given the elderly woman’s situation, “cognitively it is impossible to establish any type of communication” as she is in a “minimal conscious state”. “Writing a will requires a high degree of skill,” the expert said.
The neurologist proposed by the foundation’s defense refuted this thesis, arguing that the state of minimal consciousness was incompatible with the patient’s ability to perform certain movements. On the contrary, the neurologist proposed as an expert by the insurer, in a more vehement tone, assured that the elderly woman was “half in a coma”. “I can’t believe this woman has the ability to make a will,” the expert concluded.
