Pescanova chairman accused of falsifying accounts and insider trading
Other board members and shareholders also formally targeted
The High Court has accepted a request by the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office to formally accuse members of the board of debt-laden seafood-processing company Pescanova, which is now in the hands of the receiver, for providing false economic and financial information and for insider trading, judicial sources said Thursday.
Those formally implicated by Judge Pablo Ruz include Manuel Fernández de Sousa-Faro, who was removed as chairman of Pescanova after the company was taken over by the receivers, and board member Alfonso Paz-Andrade. Pescanova shareholders José Alberto Barreras and José Antonio Pérez-Nievas, who was also a board member, were also formally implicated on allegations of insider trading.
Pescanova has acknowledged masking the full extent of its indebtedness by keeping a parallel accounting system. Fernández de Sousa-Faro has also admitted to sell shares in Pescanova before the extent of its financial problems came to light. The company’s debts are believed to have amounted to around four billion euros.
