Tax Advisor in Tenerife cleared after being accused of keeping €75,000 following boss’s death
A tax advisor in Tenerife has been acquitted of embezzlement after being accused of keeping €75,000 from a company she managed following the death of her employer. The Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife found no evidence that the woman had taken money for personal gain and confirmed that all funds in question came from legitimate business activities.
The case was brought by the son of her late employer, who claimed that the advisor took advantage of his father’s illness and absence abroad to transfer company funds to her own account.
Initially, the private prosecution demanded the return of €110,000 and a four-year prison sentence, but by the end of the trial, the Public Prosecutor’s Office withdrew its accusations and requested her acquittal.
The defendant, who held power of attorney until 2011, had been responsible for the financial management of a company based in Liechtenstein that rented apartments and commercial premises in the south of Tenerife. She was the only person authorised to operate its bank account, from which nine transfers were allegedly made to her name.
The court concluded that the transactions could not be proven to constitute wrongdoing, and the apparent lack of transparency was attributed to the company’s offshore registration in a tax haven. The ruling also noted that the woman had to operate within a complex structure involving seven Irish fiduciary entities and various intermediaries.
The son of the deceased businessman admitted to having little knowledge of the company’s affairs at the time of his father’s death in 2011 and that the accused had always enjoyed his father’s full trust.
The defendant maintained that she had never kept any of the company’s money and described the dispute as stemming from internal disagreements and “a change in attitude towards the tax authorities.” She expressed regret for not having been more cautious in her dealings, citing an example where she withdrew €25,000 from her personal account at her employer’s request and handed it over in cash in front of his son, now the complainant.
With no evidence of misappropriation, the court cleared her of all charges.
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