Madrid, Jun 29 (EFECOM).- The National Court has confirmed that the consulting firm PwC must go to trial for defrauding investors and accounting fraud at Banco Popular, considering that it was aware of allegedly fraudulent business practices that were detrimental to Banco Popular shareholders.
In a ruling dated Friday to which EFE has had access, the Criminal Court rejects the consultancy firm’s appeal against the indictment issued by Judge José Luis Calama on March 4.
That day, the judge agreed to bring the former president of the entity, Ángel Ron, another twelve executives and the consulting firm PwC to trial for crimes of defrauding investors and accounting fraud in the 2016 capital increase.
PwC requested the dismissal of the case, arguing that there is no evidence that the criminal act was committed, and arguing that it has not proven the effectiveness of its compliance model to prevent audit reports prepared by its employees from being subject to the interests of the audited entity, in this case, the defunct Banco Popular.
The Court, however, considers that the alleged criminal acts attributed to PwC present the characteristics of a crime, “regardless of how much one tries to separate it from the alleged criminal plot,” and the indictment “clearly explains the indications that lead the investigating judge to consider certain acts or omissions to be presumably punishable.”
Although it is true that the supporting documents for the auditors’ internal review mechanisms were not provided, “the dates of implementation of the protocols for detecting and preventing crimes approved before the capital increase was approved are not clear.”
Furthermore, such compliance programs cannot be conceived as “safe conduct to avoid impunity for legal entities,” the order highlights.
It cannot be stated “without further ado” that PwC adequately supervised the audits entrusted to its partners José María Sanz Olmeda, the bank’s auditor until 2016, and Pedro Barrio, who replaced his colleague until the resolution – both prosecuted -, corresponding to the years 2015 and 2016, and there are incriminating elements that reveal that the firm was aware of business practices that were allegedly false and harmful to the shareholders of Banco Popular. .
Among them, the Criminal Court cites the covert refinancing structure of Thesan Capital, a company based in Luxembourg through which Popular would have hidden accounting holes.
All of this, the court continues, will have to be clarified in the corresponding oral trial, the judges conclude. EFECOM
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