The Supreme Court supported Vodafone and upheld the sentence of three former Ono executives for “VAT fraud”

The Civil Council of the Supreme Court supported the thesis Vodafone and upheld the conviction of three former principals Or not for the case known as “VAT fraud”, by rejecting the appeals filed against the Provincial Court’s sanctions.

The Supreme Court condemned former President Ono, Jose Maria Castellanoto the former president of the board, Rosalia Portelaand former financial director of the company, Carlos Sagastato pay VAT amounts between April 30, 2014 and August 31, 2014, according to a sentence seen by Europa Press.

The case has taken several years to resolve in the courts and dates back to fraud discovered by the Treasury Department at the company shortly after Vodafone bought Ono in 2014.

After learning about the fraud, Vodafone sued the management of the cable operator for lack of due diligence and damages caused to the company.

The established debt to the Tax Administration amounted to EUR 72.5 million in three years, including interest, surcharges and internal cost overruns, the operator explained in the lawsuit to the management.

The Supreme Court thus mostly supported the previous verdict of the Provincial Court, although it reduced the final calculation by two months to include the penalty, since they had previously had to pay VAT in the period from February to August.