The Audiencia Nacional has sentenced six children of the late entrepreneur José María Ruiz-Mateos to seven years and four months in prison for crimes including fraud, money laundering, and asset concealment linked to the fraud surrounding Grupo Nueva Rumasa from 2009 to 2011. The convicted siblings, Álvaro, Zoilo, José María, Pablo, Francisco Javier, and Alfonso Ruiz-Mateos, were found guilty of orchestrating a scheme that misled investors and caused significant financial losses.

In addition, José Ramón Romero, the former director of the Grupo Rumasa office in Jerez de La Frontera, received a sentence of six years and three months.

A nephew, Zoilo Pazos, was sentenced to six years and five months for his role as a participant and administrator for various companies within the group.

Ángel de Cabo, Fernando Juan Lavernia, and Iván Losada were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to five months for asset concealment, while four other defendants were acquitted.

The court has ordered the Ruiz-Mateos siblings, alongside Pazos and Romero, to jointly indemnify over 4,100 affected investors who contributed at least €243 million through promissory notes during the specified period.

The ruling details that Nueva Rumasa operated as a complex conglomerate of companies lacking a legal parent company, often employing businesses in tax havens such as Belize and Panama to obscure the group's financial condition.

By early 2009, the conglomerate was facing millions in debts and required urgent funding of €52 million for immediate payments, with additional liabilities of €197.5 million due that year and another €194.6 million in 2010. In light of these dire circumstances, the group's leadership opted to implement a new mechanism to attract funds from the public while concealing their critical financial state from creditors, suppliers, and consumers.

The funds attracted from investors were pooled into a common fund to be redistributed among various companies within the group, serving as the sole source of net income between 2009 and 2011. Part of the raised capital was diverted for the family’s personal expenses.

The court highlighted that the funds aimed not only to temporarily mask the companies' insolvency but also to manage substantial personal expenditures, including debts linked to family residences exceeding €18 million in early 2009.

The management of the group included the aforementioned Ruiz-Mateos siblings and their father, supported by a small number of loyal collaborators.

To secure investors, the Ruiz-Mateos family launched aggressive nationwide media campaigns, particularly in print, promising high returns on investments in their well-known companies while projecting an image of corporate health that was misleading and unfounded.

The court stated that the mechanism devised by the defendants involved obtaining loans from investors, with repayments guaranteed through non-transferable promissory notes issued by group companies.

They exploited the public’s trust in products marketed by their more established businesses, which had a significant presence in national markets.

During the examined period, the total amount raised by the defendants reached approximately €337.4 million from at least 4,110 individuals, although exact figures are uncertain due to the presence of opaque investments.

The funds were primarily allocated to a shared account from which they were redistributed according to the specific needs of the group’s companies.

Additionally, some of these funds were used to purchase personal assets for the Ruiz-Mateos family, including vehicles and real estate, under the ownership of both Spanish and Belizean companies.

In March 2011, in response to mounting financial pressures and daily due obligations, the defendants began filing for voluntary insolvency for key companies within the group.

Various strategies were implemented to shield their assets from judicial actions and potential confiscations as they faced extensive legal and financial liabilities toward investors.

In this context, the Ruiz-Mateos siblings engaged Ángel de Cabo, a specialist in restructuring or liquidating distressed businesses, along with his associates Iván Losada and Fernando Lavernia, to assist in protecting their assets.

The sentences also included the acquittal of four individuals, including Alfonso Barón Rivero and Manuel Sánchez Marín, who were not found liable in the case.