Former tennis player Arantxa Sánchez Vicario sentenced to 2 years in prison, which she will not serve, for alleged seizure of assets

The former tennis player agreed with the accusations and held her ex-husband responsible, sentenced to three years

The 25th Criminal Court of Barcelona has sentenced former tennis player Arantxa Sánchez Vicario to two years in prison - which she will not serve on the condition of not reoffending - and her ex-husband Josep Santacana to three years and three months in prison for a crime of rebellion. assets by hiding his assets to avoid paying the Bank of Luxembourg a debt of 7.5 million euros.

The sentence, consulted by Europa Press this Wednesday, also sentences three other defendants to one year and three months in prison for the same crime and condemns the former tennis player and her ex-husband to pay joint compensation of 6,620,127.60 euros to the Bank. from Luxembourg.

The document also agrees to suspend the sentence imposed on Sánchez Vicario and another of the convicted persons for a period of two years on the condition that they do not commit crimes again.

In view of the evidence of the trial, the judge has confirmed that Sánchez Vicario "had and at all times had sufficient assets to cover the debt and that, through acts of sale and subtraction from the seizure actions, he prevented the collection." Of the debt".

He also remembers that the former tennis player acknowledged her participation in the events, at the same time that she blamed Santacana for the management of her assets and stated that "she did not have any knowledge related to the management of assets, and that she has always entrusted it to third parties, first to her parents, and after her marriage, and specifically since she took control of the assets in November 2009, to her husband.

The magistrate finds it proven that Santacana managed Sánchez Vicario's assets "and that he devised and carried out the de-patrimonialization operations that made it impossible to pay the debt."

For the judge, it is "absolutely credible" that Sánchez Vicario had no knowledge of asset management or interest in it, which is why he transferred the management of his assets to third parties, while Santacana did have knowledge having worked in the real estate sector.

SANTACANA WILL RESORT

Satacana's lawyer, Juan Segarra, has warned once the sentence is known that he will appeal the sentence, which in his opinion "does not reflect what was seen in the trial."

In statements to journalists after receiving the sentence at the Ciutat de la Justicia, he described the resolution as "a mere transcription of the accusation documents" and discredited the judge for having given credibility to Sánchez Vicario's version.

For his part, the former tennis player's lawyer, Borja Vives, has said that they are satisfied because their agreement with the accusations has been "respected" and the prison sentence has been suspended since this Wednesday.

"As it could not be otherwise, the trial has been a faithful image of the reality that occurred and the sentence has stated that Mr. Santacana devised, managed and carried out these acts of depatrimonialization," Vives added after being notified of the ruling.