Former Pescanova chief denies "deceit" in false accounting case

The former chairman of failed Spanish multinational seafood processor Pescanova, who is facing charges of false accounting, fraud and insider trading, on Tuesday continued to insist during questioning in the High Court that there had "never been any deceit" intended in the manner the company presented its accounts.

Manuel Fernández de Sousa also denied that the firm had made up false bills to hide the full extent of its financial debt, arguing that everything was an "error of interpretation."

Pescanova is in the hands of the receivers with a negative net worth of 927 million euros and debts of 3.281 billion euros, three times the amount it had presented in its books. A forensic audit by consultant KPMG concluded that the management had been manipulating the firm's accounts for some time.

Fernández de Sousa said he had sold shares in Pescanova before the financial problems facing the company had been made public to the National Securities Commission (CNMV) because he needed to pay back loans he had taken out to acquire the shares he had bought at higher prices than current market ones.