The Audiencia Nacional of Spain has sentenced six relatives of businessman José María Ruiz-Mateos to seven years and four months in prison for crimes including fraud, money laundering, and asset concealment, associated with the financial operations of the Nueva Rumasa Group conducted between 2009 and 2011. This ruling, detailed in a 672-page judgment, also imposes a prison term of six years and three months on José Ramón Romero, the director of the group's office in Jerez de la Frontera, referred to as the 'banquito de Jerez.'

Zoilo Pazos, a nephew of Ruiz-Mateos and participant in multiple companies within the group, received a sentencing of six years and five months.

Other defendants, Ángel de Cabo, Fernando Juan Lavernia, and Iván Losada, received sentences ranging from three to five months for their roles in the asset concealment activities.

Four individuals who were also tried in this case were acquitted.

The court has mandated the convicted individuals to jointly and severally compensate the victims, as well as cover the legal costs incurred by the prosecution.

The ruling clarifies that the Nueva Rumasa Group comprised a complex web of companies that, despite representations of a consolidated entity, lacked a common parent company as per commercial and tax legislation.

Instead, the assets and liabilities of these companies functioned collectively, reflecting a structure that essentially operated as a single enterprise from both financial and liability perspectives.

At the time, the economic condition of Nueva Rumasa was severely critical, with accumulated debts reaching hundreds of millions of euros and an urgent need for liquidity estimated at 52 million euros to manage immediate payments.

Among these financial obligations, approximately 197.5 million euros were due in 2009, followed by another 194.6 million euros falling due in 2010.

In light of their inability to secure bank loans, the Ruiz-Mateos family initiated a public fundraising campaign to address their financial insolvency.

They employed aggressive advertising strategies in national media, especially in print, promoting investments in desirable entities within their corporate portfolio with promises of high interest rates, despite the actual insolvency of the Nueva Rumasa Group.

The campaign reportedly attracted investments from at least 4,110 individuals, accumulating 337.4 million euros.

Judicial investigations have traced 243.5 million euros entering Nueva Rumasa's accounts from these investors between February 2009 and February 2011. These funds were subsequently pooled and redistributed among various entities associated with the group.

The family members used a portion of the raised funds for personal expenditures, including the acquisition of vehicles and real estate, while also covering operational expenses amounting to over 1 million euros.

By March 2011, as the financial situation worsened and due to demands for return of investments, the Ruiz-Mateos family introduced new administrators to protect their assets and maintain control amid escalating legal pressures.

The Jerez de la Frontera office was instrumental in the fundraising, where cash was gathered from investors, with reported interest rates of 9% to 10%.

However, these were deceitfully recorded at lower rates to evade full taxation.

The specifics of the considerable cash funds collected remain unclear.

José Ramón Moreno, managing the office, has also faced a conviction for tax evasion, with evidence showing he generated 360,000 euros in untaxed income in a year alone.

The decision by the court took into account significant delays in the legal process, attributed to its complexity and previous court cases, including the high-profile 'Gürtel case' and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The case has resulted in claims from 1,409 affected individuals, amounting to 171 million euros in total losses related to the collapse of Nueva Rumasa.