The "lifting of the veil" over Juan Francisco Rosa's companies, ordered last June by the investigating judge in the Stratvs case, has paid off. With this measure, Magistrate Silvia Muñoz intended to determine whether the businessman was using companies as a "screen" to hide his assets, since he has not deposited the bail imposed on him in this case, of almost 900,000 euros, and no properties were found in his name that could be seized to cover that sum.
However, after lifting the veil, they have located assets that were in the name of one of his companies, BTL Lanzarote, but which are actually personal properties. The most outstanding is a house located in one of the most luxurious and exclusive streets in Madrid, Calle Serrano, within the Salamanca district. The house, located on the fifth floor, has almost 200 square meters and its "balconies and windows" also overlook Calle Goya, with which it corners. The building is located in the well-known "Golden Mile" of the capital, where the main luxury stores are concentrated.
After learning of the existence of this house in the name of BTL, the Court ordered it to be seized, issuing a warrant to the Madrid Land Registry. This ensures that, in the event of a conviction, Rosa complies with the payment of the economic amounts claimed from him. It should be remembered that the Prosecutor's Office and the private and popular prosecution are asking for 405,426 to be imposed as civil liability and 267,000 euros in fines.
Seizure of two other properties
In addition, two other properties that were in the name of BTL Lanzarote have also been seized. One of them, of 5,780 square meters, is a vineyard land located in the Barranco del Obispo, in the same area where the Stratvs winery is located. The other is located in Uga, also in the municipality of Yaiza, and has 610 square meters.
To the right, the access to the portal where the seized apartment is located.
With these seizures, plus those that had already been ordered on the few assets found in the name of Juan Francisco Rosa as a natural person, the judge considers that the bail that was imposed on him in June 2015 has been covered, and that the businessman had not deposited. According to the decree ordering the seizure, Rosa "committed" to present a guarantee to the Court for that amount, but he did not.
That, added to the absence of assets in his name, was what led the magistrate to order the lifting of the veil, which is a measure that had not been applied until that moment in the Canary Islands. Specifically, the judge focused that order on three companies, "Juan Francisco Rosa e Hijos", "BTL Lanzarote" and "Bodegas Stratvs", which are those that appear in the proceedings of this judicial case.
A pioneering measure in the Canary Islands to prevent the concealment of assets
"With the lifting of the veil, it is avoided that such companies act as a screen for pecuniary responsibilities, by sustaining the enrichment of the defendant's work activity, as well as the patrimonial performance," the magistrate's order stated. Now, this measure has allowed the seizures to be ordered and cover the entire bail required. In fact, the magistrate issued an order last September declaring Juan Francisco Rosa "solvent", which means that he will respond economically in the event of a conviction, as these amounts have already been secured.
The three companies on which the veil has been lifted are connected to each other not only by sharing an owner. In the case of Juan Francisco Rosa e Hijos, it was absorbed by BTL, which in turn has Bodegas Stratvs S.L. as its sole administrator. And the sole administrator of Bodegas Stratvs S.L. is Juan Francisco Rosa. The businessman also appears as general manager, financial director, human resources director and commercial director of BTL Lanzarote, whose corporate purpose is the "purchase and sale of plumbing, hardware and sanitary materials, as well as furniture, decorative items, utensils and objects for the home, construction materials and decoration elements".
However, this company has in its name a luxury home in Madrid, in addition to two farms in Lanzarote, which are those that have been seized. In her order ordering the lifting of the veil over these three companies, the judge already warned that the separation of the assets of Rosa and his companies could be "in reality a fiction".
