White-collar crime · Madrid
For business owners, directors and senior managers facing a tax investigation, a complaint from a partner or a court summons. We see you on the Castellana, or by phone and WhatsApp, in English.
Talk to a lawyer today
If your company has received a request for information, a visit from the tax inspectors or a court summons, do not reply or hand anything over until a lawyer has read it. Call us on +34 711 29 14 66 and we will tell you what needs doing this week and which deadlines are already running.
Written and reviewed by Jimena Sastre, criminal lawyer, compliance officer and external anti-money laundering expert registered with SEPBLAC, the Spanish financial intelligence unit.
Updated on 4 October 2026.
We act for directors, senior managers, shareholders and for the company itself. Where the company’s interests and those of the people running it may pull in different directions, we tell you at the start, because each side may then need its own lawyer. When our client is the victim, we file the criminal complaint and claim the money back in the same proceedings.
Fraud that may seriously harm the Spanish economy, or hurt many people across more than one province, goes to the Audiencia Nacional, which sits in Madrid. Since Organic Law 1/2025 the investigation is run by the investigating section of the Tribunal Central de Instancia, also in Madrid, which took over from the old central investigating courts. Other cases are investigated where the events took place.
If you sit on the board of a Spanish company from another country, you answer in Spain for what is done in its name, and the company can be prosecuted in its own right. When evidence or assets are in another EU country, a Spanish judge can obtain them through a European Investigation Order. Cross-border VAT fraud of 10 million euros or more involving two or more member states may be taken on by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Spanish law lets a company escape liability if its board adopted and applied a crime prevention programme before the offence, an independent body supervised it, the offender got round it fraudulently and that supervision did not fail. If only part of this can be shown, it still counts towards a lower sentence. We build the company’s defence on the programme it actually had.
If a request, a raid or a summons arrives
Anyone under investigation in Spain may see the case file before giving a statement, stay silent and refuse to incriminate themselves. Searching the offices from which a company is run generally needs a court order.
Where to start
Send us what you have received on WhatsApp and we will tell you the first step.
The tax authorities have sent my file to the prosecutor
While the case runs, the tax authorities can keep collecting the debt unless the judge suspends collection, usually against a guarantee. The offence starts above 120,000 euros per tax and year, so we have an expert check the figure.
A partner has reported me over how I ran the company
The prosecution must prove that you went beyond your powers and that this caused the company a loss. We gather the minutes, powers of attorney and emails that show why each decision was taken.
I am accused of keeping money entrusted to me
This usually involves deposits, commissions, advance payments or project funds. Often the real question is whether the money had to be returned or was an ordinary debt, which belongs in the civil courts.
My company is insolvent or in formal insolvency proceedings
The insolvency court’s view does not bind the criminal judge, and the criminal case can go ahead without waiting for it. We review sales, payments and the books for the months before.
My bank is asking questions or holding a transfer
Spanish banks may not tell you whether they have reported your transactions to SEPBLAC. The safe answer is paperwork showing where each payment came from.
I am investigated over commissions to a client or supplier
Giving or taking an unjustified advantage to win a contract between private companies carries six months to four years in prison and a ban from trading. If a public official is involved, the offence is bribery of officials.
Our offices were searched and computers taken
Taking a computer does not allow the police to look inside it. A judge must expressly authorise access to the contents. We check what was copied, by whom, and whether the court order was respected.
The company itself is under investigation
The company should be represented by someone other than the director under investigation. From day one we work on the mitigating factors the law allows: providing evidence, repairing the harm and putting controls in place before trial.
Worth knowing
Fraud carries six months to three years in prison. Above 50,000 euros, or when many people are affected, it is one to six years, and above 250,000 euros, four to eight. Breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation carry the same sentences.
The 120,000 euro threshold applies per tax and period, and for taxes filed monthly or quarterly, such as VAT, the calendar year is added up. Above 600,000 euros, or where shell companies or tax havens hide who owes the tax, the sentence rises to two to six years. Paying and admitting the facts within two months of being summoned as a suspect lets the judge reduce the sentence by one or two degrees.
Hiding assets from creditors carries one to four years in prison, and one to six where the debt is owed to the tax authorities or Social Security. Fraudulent insolvency carries the same one to four years and can also be committed through gross negligence.
The sentence is six months to six years and a fine of up to three times the value of the assets, or six months to two years for gross negligence. It makes no difference that the original offence was committed outside Spain.
The investigation stage has a twelve-month limit, which the judge can extend by up to six months at a time. Most of these offences become time-barred after five years, or ten where the maximum sentence exceeds five years.
How we work
A request, an inspection report, a summons or a complaint. We read it, tell you which deadlines apply and what to hold off on, and send you a written quote.
With your accountant or finance team we pull together the accounts, contracts, minutes and emails, and see what they explain.
We read the whole file and decide with you whether to speak, on what, and with which documents in hand.
We propose the evidence that is missing, have an independent expert test the prosecution’s figures and ask for unjustified asset freezes to be lifted.
We aim first for the case to be dropped. If that does not happen, we compare with you what a plea agreement would mean and what could happen at trial, including for the company.
FAQ
When the adjustment the inspectors propose gets close to 120,000 euros for one tax in one year, or if they mention signs of a criminal offence. Before you sign any inspection report, find out what it could mean on the criminal side.
Yes. The criminal case does not stop collection unless the judge suspends it, usually against a guarantee. If you cannot provide one and collection would cause damage that is very hard to undo, the judge can waive it in whole or in part.
Yes. It is enough to prove that someone holding a post or role in the company committed it, even if that person has not been identified or cannot be tried.
Mainly fines, which for fraud or tax offences are calculated on the amount involved. In serious cases the court can suspend its activities or close its premises for up to five years, bar it from public contracts for up to fifteen, or dissolve it. Suspension, closure and court supervision can be ordered during the investigation.
A poor outcome is not enough on its own. There has to be an abuse of the powers to manage and a loss to the company. A decision taken on proper information, through the company’s own procedures and with no personal interest, is the starting point of the defence.
Yes. You are entitled to examine the case file in good time and in any event before you give a statement. If the judge has made the case secret, the secrecy must be lifted at least ten days before the investigation closes.
Not for every step. We tell you which appearances need you in person and which we can handle on your behalf, and we give you as much notice as we can.
We need to see the case file or the tax papers before giving a figure, as a single statement and a years-long investigation are very different pieces of work. With that in hand we send you a written quote, broken down by stage.
Client reviews
Jimena Sastre ha sido una excelente abogada de inmigración que me ha guiado durante todo el proceso de solicitud de la nacionalidad española. Ha sido profesional, amable, siempre dispuesta a responder mis preguntas y me ha orientado correctamente. Su enfoque hizo que mi solicitud fuera mucho más sencilla y sin estrés, y la recomiendo a otros expatriados/inmigrantes que necesiten asesoramiento y asistencia legal para sus solicitudes de residencia o nacionalidad.
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