The Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) has ratified the sentence against two workers of a company dedicated to the commercial exploitation of tourist apartments, mainly in Torremolinos (Málaga), for having improperly appropriated a total of 885,656 euros.
The resolution of the Málaga Chamber, now endorsed by the high Andalusian Court, established that one of the accused held the position of administrative and financial director of the company from 1976 until his retirement in 2014, assuming among his duties various accounting tasks.
By virtue of that position, he had all the permissions in the company's software "to be able to alter invoices and accounting entries" and, being in charge of economic management, had access to all the funds generated by the company, according to what was stated in the ruling of the Court.
In the context of an internal audit, the complaining company detected that this worker, between January 2008 and April 2014, "driven by the purpose of obtaining an illicit benefit," managed to divert various sums of money "acting artificially with deceit."
In this way, it is detailed that "he systematically altered the invoices to decrease their amount, correspondingly modifying the accounting entry in the cash and sales accounts. They were small amounts that, added up over the years, have reached a significant total."
Likewise, "guided by the same intent and acting with deceit," the second accused, who took on functions after the first's retirement, diverted another part of the money between 2014 and 2016, confirming "the manipulation of the accounting entries, through two systems of action."
On one hand, he recorded in the credit card account amounts that had been paid in cash and that, therefore, should appear in the cash account; on the other hand, he omitted in the settlement presented to management certain invoices collected in cash and, once the internal controls were surpassed, reversed the accounting entry.
This second employee was dismissed after admitting in writing a distraction of 185,018 euros, although the amount he is ultimately charged with amounts to almost 239,000 euros.
For these facts, the first accused was sentenced for a crime of misappropriation in conjunction with another of documentary falsification, both in their continued modality, setting a penalty of four years and nine months in prison. The second was convicted of the same crimes and must serve three years in prison.
In both cases, the mitigating factor of undue delays is appreciated, as more than six years have passed in the processing of the procedure. Furthermore, the second is sentenced to pay 238,978.45 euros as compensation, an amount that coincides with the appropriated total.
The TSJA thus rejects the reasons put forward by the defenses in their appeals and confirms the initial sentence, with the only exception of the amount attributed to the first of the prosecuted, which is reduced from 774,258 euros to 646,678.11 euros.