The following is a translation of an article published in El Independiente.
The National Court’s ruling acquitting actress Ana Duato in the so-called “Nummaria case” has rekindled criticism of the Tax Agency by the law firm Amsterdam & Partners . Its director, Robert Amsterdam, announced on June 26 that he will file a complaint against Spain with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He also announced the initiation of legal action against the Treasury before the United Nations, supported by an international team of twenty lawyers.
Now, following the National Court’s ruling, Amsterdam assures El Independiente that Ana Duato’s case is an example of an abusive and repressive tax model. “The Treasury targeted Spain’s most famous actress to gain more publicity and, therefore, more revenue,” he maintains. “It’s the Treasury’s way of scaring citizens. The ruling makes it clear that Ana Duato has always paid her taxes, but she has been subjected to a process that has lasted ten years. Ten years of presumption of guilt is too long. It’s not fair in a state governed by the rule of law.”
The court concluded that Duato did not have business knowledge greater than that of an average citizen and that there is no evidence that she was aware of violating her tax obligations. The 275-page ruling rules out the possibility that the actress deliberately defrauded by using structures created by the Nummaria law firm to declare part of her income as an annuity, which allowed her to apply for a tax reduction. The judges found that she acted in accordance with her advisor’s advice and did not exceed the legal thresholds for tax crimes in the fiscal years inspected.
“Ana Duato had already paid everything the Treasury asked of her. Why suffer for so long?” Amsterdam insists. ” She has been a martyr so that thousands of self-employed workers could see the power of the institution. Hundreds of citizens have written to us to tell us their stories, and our conclusion is that this is not a state governed by the rule of law.”
Along with the actress, 18 other defendants have also been acquitted, including producer Miguel Ángel Bernardeau , Duato’s husband. On the other hand, accountant Fernando Peña , considered the mastermind behind the Nummaria law firm, has been sentenced to 80 years in prison—although he can only serve a maximum of 12—for his role at the head of an opaque consulting network with branches in Luxembourg, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and the United Kingdom.
Actor Imanol Arias , who also took part in the proceedings, has been sentenced to two years and two months in prison after admitting to five tax offenses between 2010 and 2013. The actor reached an agreement with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, returning more than 2.2 million euros and seeing his sentence reduced to the agreed minimum.