The second section of the criminal chamber of the National High Court has dismissed the appeals filed by Indulleida and two of its former executives, endorsing the initial ruling of the central criminal court. The sentence confirms one-year prison sentences for Mariano S.R., administrator until November 2018, and Francisco Javier A.F., CEO since January 2019, during which period Nufri acquired the majority of shares in the company, based in Alguaire (Segrià).
Likewise, fines of 3 million euros are ratified for both executives and for the company Indulleida. Furthermore, they are prohibited from receiving public subsidies or tax benefits for a period of three years. The ruling also obliges the convicted parties to jointly return 2.1 million euros, plus interest, to the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEGA), corresponding to unduly received aid.
The case dates back to 2018, when the FEGA granted Indulleida subsidies amounting to 3.88 million euros for projects to expand and improve facilities within the National Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. These funds were intended to modernize the company's facilities and obtain products with higher added value through the industrial processing of fruit and vegetables.
In parallel, the company applied for a loan of 6 million euros from the Institut Català de Finances (ICF) and a 2% interest subsidy from the Generalitat's Directorate General of Industry to finance the same industrial project. The National High Court considers it proven that this aid was incompatible with the European subsidies from FEGA and that the company concealed its existence when processing the payment of the second annual installment of European aid.
The chamber concludes that Francisco Javier A.F., already as head of the company after the entry of the Nufri group, submitted the justification for collecting the second annual installment of the subsidy in September 2019, declaring that no other incompatible aid existed, despite the company having already received the subsidy linked to the ICF loan.
The defense of the convicted parties argued that there was no incompatibility between the two financing lines, but the magistrates reject these arguments. They consider that the request for payment of the second installment was part of the "iter delicti" (the process followed from conceiving the idea to commit a crime until its execution) and kept the fraudulent conduct alive. The National High Court emphasizes that Francisco Javier A.F. had an obligation to know the status of the company's subsidies and financing, and that he showed a "clear intention of not wanting to be informed".
The sentence supports the thesis of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, according to which the loan and the interest subsidy constituted a single financial instrument intended for the same purpose subsidized by FEGA, violating the regulations prohibiting double financing with public funds. The magistrates highlight that Indulleida did not have an adequate regulatory compliance system at the time of the events, although it subsequently implemented control measures, a circumstance considered an attenuating factor.
The ruling confirmed, issued on June 30, 2025, and later corrected to include the two legal representatives in the civil liability for the return of defrauded money, was the first initiated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office in Spain for a similar case. The sentence is not yet final and can be appealed before the Supreme Court.
