The judge has sentenced financier Jaime Botín to 18 months in prison and a fine of 52.4 million euros for a crime of smuggling, while trying to remove a Picasso from Spain without authorization to do so. This has been agreed by the Criminal Court number 27 of Madrid in a ruling in which he rejects Botin's thesis that in reality the painting was always outside of Spain and that his intention was not to sell it, but to keep it in a secure deposit in Switzerland .

The accusation was exercised by the Prosecutor's Office and the State Advocacy, which claimed a harsher penalty: four years in prison and 100 million euros. The penalty finally imposed does not exceed two years, so it can be suspended and Botín would avoid entering prison. The ruling rejects another petition that the Advocacy added, the seizure of the ship - a magnificent schooner - in which Botín was carrying the Head of a Young Woman, from 1906 and valued at 26 million euros. The fine corresponds to double that valuation, lower than the cadre requested by the Advocacy on behalf of the Treasury and the 100 million requested by the prosecutor. The sentence is appealable before the Provincial Court.

Since the operation of the Civil Guard in collaboration with the French police - the painting was seized in Corsica - the painting is stored in the Reina Sofía Museum. If the sentence is confirmed, it will definitely become the property of the State.

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  • Spain
  • Civil Guard
  • Madrid
  • Reina Sofia Museum
  • Tax crimes

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