Criminal Lawyers for Corporate Criminal Liability
Defense of companies and legal entities facing criminal prosecution.
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Corporate criminal liability (responsabilidad penal de la persona jurídica, Article 31 bis Criminal Code) allows Spanish courts to convict companies and legal entities for crimes committed by their directors or employees. Introduced in 2010 and reformed in 2015, this provision represents a radical shift in Spanish criminal law, which traditionally only punished natural persons.
Applicable Crimes
Not all crimes trigger corporate liability. The Criminal Code specifies which offenses apply, including: fraud, money laundering, bribery, tax crimes, environmental offenses, trafficking, computer crimes, and others. Penalties for legal entities include: fines (up to quintuple the benefit obtained), dissolution, suspension of activities (up to 5 years), closure of premises, prohibition from public contracting, and judicial intervention.
Defense Strategies
The primary defense is demonstrating an effective Compliance program was in place before the crime (Art. 31 bis 2 CP), which can exempt the company entirely. Additional defenses include: proving the crime was committed against the company's interests (not for its benefit); establishing that the criminal employee circumvented the control measures; demonstrating the company cooperated fully with the investigation (mitigating factor); and challenging the attribution of the crime to the specific legal entity (in corporate group structures).
Economic Criminal Law in Spain: Tax Fraud, Money Laundering and Corporate Crimes
Economic criminal law encompasses the most severe financial penalties in the Spanish Criminal Code. Tax fraud over €120,000 (Art. 305 CP), money laundering (Art. 301 CP), and corporate crimes (Art. 290-297 CP) are complex offenses where defense requires a combination of criminal law expertise and deep accounting/financial knowledge.
Penalty Comparison: Economic Offenses
| Offense | Threshold | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Fraud (Art. 305) | >€120,000 | 1 – 5 years + fine x6 |
| Aggravated Tax Fraud | >€600,000 | 2 – 6 years |
| Money Laundering (Art. 301) | Any amount | 6 months – 6 years |
| Aggravated Laundering | Organized/financial system | Up to 9 years |
| Corporate Crime (Art. 290) | Balance sheet falsification | 1 – 3 years |
| Punishable Insolvency (Art. 259) | Fraudulent bankruptcy | 1 – 4 years |
Key Defense Strategies
Tax Regularization Defense (Art. 305.4 CP)
Pay the full tax debt before charges are formally filed and the crime is extinguished. This is the most powerful complete defense in tax fraud cases.
Challenge the €120K Threshold
The tax authority's calculation method is often contestable. Independent forensic accounting can challenge the assessed figure below the criminal threshold.
Money Laundering 'Self-laundering' Issues
Spanish courts have debated whether the primary offender can also be convicted of laundering their own proceeds. Challenge the double jeopardy implications.
Corporate Crime: Harm to Company vs. Shareholders
Art. 295 corporate crimes require actual financial harm to the company or its members. Demonstrate that any loss was speculative or absent.
Why Choose Us?
Need a criminal defense lawyer for this type of offense? Here's how we work:
Do you need specialised legal assistance?
The judicial system is complex. We have the criminal-law specialisation and technical resources required to take on the defence.