The Provincial Court of Las Palmas has rejected a new appeal by businessman Juan Francisco Rosa, who will once again be in the dock for serious economic crimes in the management of Los Fariones SA, to the detriment of his partners. Along with him, several members of his family will be tried this time.
The businessman already appealed in the past the order that ended the instruction of this case, but his attempt was forcefully rejected by the Sixth Section of the Court. At the same time, Juan Francisco Rosa filed another appeal against one of the latest orders of the investigating judge, which is the one that has now been dismissed by the First Section, again imposing the payment of the costs generated.
What the defense requested is that an appraisal commissioned and paid for by Rosa be given to the judicial expert, so that he could “supplement his report.” Specifically, the appraisal of the part referred to the value of Lanzasuiza, whose sale is one of the operations that were investigated in these proceedings, initiated by the complaint of the García Bravo family.
“It would contribute even more to delaying the processing of the case”, the Court warns, thus agreeing with the criteria of the investigating judge. In this regard, both point out that “this ratification and extension can occur as evidence in the oral trial”, without the need to further delay the procedure.
"He did not pronounce within the granted period"
In addition, the Court's order recalls that when the official expert report was presented, the magistrate offered the parties to request an appearance of the expert “if they considered the ratification or clarification of the report necessary”, but Rosa's defense “did not pronounce on it within the granted period”. “Had said request been made, the appraisal report could have been shown to the judicial expert”, the order underlines, dated September 12.
Therefore, the Chamber concludes that “what is intended is not a ratification or extension of the expert report, but a new investigation procedure consisting of the extension of the report already issued by the judicial expert”, also raised in an untimely manner.
Both the Public Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution, exercised by its partners in the company, had opposed this appeal. Among other things, they pointed out that Rosa's defense “hides” that a witness, auditor of the company, already provided an appraisal report of the La Perla hotel, which was the main asset of Lanzasuiza (50% owned by Los Fariones SA).
In addition, they emphasized that the claim raised in this appeal is the same one he alleged when asking for the order that ended the instruction of the case to be annulled, opening the process to take it to trial.
That appeal was already rejected in December 2021 by the Sixth Section of the Court, which praised the “excellent motivation” in all the orders issued by the investigating judge, Jerónimo Alonso, and confirmed that there are indications of criminality that justify holding the trial.
Regarding the request that he already raised then for the judicial expert to speak again, the Sixth Section was also forceful: “We do not understand what interest it has for the investigation that the judicial expert knows the existence of other appraisals different from his own”, he responded in his order.
“What does not seem logical is that, after almost four years of instruction, the clarification and extension of an expert report is pertinent and useful for the purposes of the investigation, which can also be done in the trial”, the Chamber pointed out, in the same line as what has now been resolved by the First Section.
Request for up to 11 years in prison
Along with Juan Francisco Rosa, his children Raquel and Andrés Rosa, as well as Anselmo Rosa Perdomo and Rosa María Rosa Martín, are accused in this case of alleged corporate crimes, misappropriation and documentary falsification in the management of Los Fariones SA.
The Prosecutor's Office is asking for 4 years in prison for Juan Francisco Rosa and 2 years for the rest, whom he points out as necessary cooperators. For its part, the prosecution is demanding 11 years in prison for the five, considering them all as co-authors.
Both the private prosecution and the Prosecutor's Office also demand the return of the money that disappeared from the accounts of the company Hotel Fariones S.A., to the detriment of its partners, the García Bravo family, which owned 25% of the company.
They also request that several companies of Juan Francisco Rosa be held responsible for the return of that money, as well as other individuals who benefited from the allegedly criminal operations, such as businessman Rafael Lasso Cabrera.
