A businessman accused of defrauding several companies with the alleged sale of N95 masks during the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic admitted to the facts yesterday, Monday November 10th, at the start of the trial in the Alicante Provincial Court and accepted a four-year prison sentence for a continuing offence of fraud after reaching a plea agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office.
In its initial accusation, the Public Prosecutor said that, in March 2020, the defendant offered the masks in the health market with the objective of finding purchasers interested in the product, which was limited at the time and was deemed a basic necessity.
So, he set up the transaction with at least four separate organisations, most of whom were contractors for government agencies. He asked them to pay him in advance for the masks once the deal was done.
But the corporations that were supposed to get the products once they paid did not get them.
At first, the prosecution wanted the defendant to get six years in prison for ongoing fraud. After the facts were made clear, this was brought down to four years.
The agreement also says that the impacted companies will get 685,065 euros in damages as civil liability, which will be paid in installments of 25,000 euros every two months. There will also be a fine of 1,600 euros.
After the guilty decision was read out loud, the court didn’t think it was essential to continue the trial. The defendant was already in jail for a different crime at the time of the trial.
Author: Derek Appleton
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