Imanol Arias and Ana Duato face 59 years in prison for tax fraud

This Tuesday, the National Court will begin one of the most high-profile trials in recent years: the Nummaria case. The trial, which will last until September according to the planned calendar, will place around thirty defendants in the dock, among whom are the renowned actors Imanol Arias and Ana Duato, protagonists of the series ‘Tell me how it happened’. Both face serious accusations for alleged tax fraud. Specifically, Arias is accused of defrauding the Treasury of 2.7 million euros, for which the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office is asking for 27 years for him for six tax crimes. For her part, Duato would have diverted 1.9 million from the treasury and they are asking for 32 years in prison for her for seven tax crimes. Lawyer Fernando Peña, considered the brain of the operation, is the one who faces the highest penalty request, 298 years in prison.

The Nummaria consultancy, founded more than two decades ago, positioned itself as one of the most reputable tax consultancies, offering services to a clientele that included figures from entertainment, politics and sports. The surprise came in 2016, when the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) broke into the offices of the Nummaria Group in Madrid. An operation that culminated in the arrest of several partners and employees of the company and that was the result of months of investigations by the National Fraud Investigation Office and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in collaboration with the Tax Agency.

The main accusations against the consultancy are tax fraud and money laundering. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, a complex network of shell companies and offshore companies was created with the aim of evading taxes and laundering large sums of money. The accusation maintains that, through these structures, those involved managed to divert millions of euros out of Spain, hiding them from the treasury and laundering money of illicit origin.

Following this modus operandi, Ana Duato’s image rights would have been transferred to a company under her control, Gaumukh Aeie, which later became an Economic Interest Grouping (AIE). This structure would have made it possible to allegedly hide part of her income coming from her work in the series ‘Cuéntame como paso’. Her husband, Miguel Ángel Bernardeau, producer of the series, has also been involved in the investigation and the Prosecutor’s Office is requesting 18 years in prison for him.

For his part, Imanol Arias would have used a structure in which his sister, also accused in the process, would have acted as representative and administrator of several companies, allegedly facilitating tax evasion.

According to the tax indictment, of the 2.7 million that Imanol Arias allegedly defrauded in the years 2009 to 2015, he would have already returned 2.3 million in 2020. In the case of Ana Duato, of the 1.9 million defrauded supposedly between 2010 and 2017, it would have returned 838,000.

Since the investigation became known, Duato has been defending his innocence. “I don’t plan to leave my children the inheritance of a lie,” he told ‘Vanitatis’ in a recent interview. Also in February of this year, she explained to ‘The Objective’ that in 2014 the Treasury reviewed several of her personal income tax years and told her how she should settle them, which she complied with. However, a year later, the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) intervened in the Nummaria office and accused her of being part of a criminal organization, something that she categorically denies, so the case has not been raised in any case. possibility of reaching an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office.

A completely different strategy from that of his co-star, Imanol Arias, who, it has emerged, would be working on a pact whereby the actor would plead guilty to a tax crime in exchange for a non-jail sentence.