Criminal defence throughout Spain · offices in Madrid and Alicante
False invoices, altered contracts, certificates, scanned signatures and manipulated digital files. Document forgery accompanies almost all economic crime, and it is won or lost through handwriting and digital forensic examination.
In brief. Document forgery is, by definition, an offence proved by expert evidence. Whoever controls the forensic examination controls the case. The decisive questions are what counts as a commercial document, when a falsehood is a mere ideological untruth that is not punishable for a private individual, and whether the document is capable of altering legal transactions.
Proceedings for forgery share a single requirement: to examine every document technically. Handwriting, inks, media, file metadata, digitised signatures and edited PDFs; modern forgery is at once physical and electronic.
To this is added a fine point of law: what constitutes a commercial document, when a falsehood is merely ideological and not punishable for a private individual, and when a document is capable of altering legal transactions. That dual plane, technical and legal, is where these cases are decided. For that reason we bring together criminal defence and a documentary and digital forensic laboratory within a single team.
| Offence | Article | Penalty framework | Key aggravating factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forgery by a public officer (public document) | 390 | 3 – 6 years | Disqualification 2 – 6 years |
| Forgery by a private individual | 392 | 6 months – 3 years | Commercial document included |
| Private document | 395 | 6 months – 2 years | Requires harm to a third party |
| Use in court | 393 / 396 | One degree lower | Knowledge of the falsity |
| Cards and cheques | 399 bis | 4 – 8 years | Organisation: upper half |
| Another person’s identity | 400 bis | 6 months – 3 years | Use of another’s genuine document |
| False accounting | 290 | 1 – 3 years | Harm caused: upper half |
| Legal person | 31 bis | Fine · suspension · dissolution | Absence of a compliance programme |
Penalty ranges are indicative and set out the ordinary framework; the sentence actually imposed depends on the degree of completion, aggravating and mitigating circumstances and the specific facts of each case.
The evidence in a forgery is, by definition, expert evidence: handwriting, inks and media on the physical side; metadata, hashes and editing traces on the digital side. Whoever controls the forensic examination controls the case. For that reason we apply LIWARD, Legal Intelligence Warfare for Defense, our own methodology, which integrates legal intelligence, case-law analytics, financial and accounting analysis and e-forensics into a single procedural strategy. That is what distinguishes us from conventional criminal defence.
Companies that discover forged invoices or contracts in their dealings: internal investigation, expert examination and private prosecution.
Directors accused of falsifying company or commercial documentation: technical defence on both the document and the intent.
Those investigated over questioned signatures or documents: counter-examination of handwriting and digital evidence from the investigation stage.
Parties harmed by false documents: expert proof of the manipulation and full recovery of the loss.
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Criminal defence in English before the courts of Alicante and the rest of Spain, for residents and for visitors who have flown home.
Société de Conseil Juridique et Expert es un despacho de abogados con sedes en Madrid, Alicante, Londres y París, especializado en defensa y acusación penal, delitos económicos y corporativos y derecho tecnológico. Trabajamos con orientación estratégica en procedimientos penales complejos, propiedad intelectual y análisis forense avanzado, y prestamos consultoría jurídica, compliance y escudos de protección a particulares y empresas. Atendemos desde Alicante y Madrid, con consulta online en toda España y asistencia al detenido 24 horas. Resuelva sus dudas en las preguntas frecuentes o solicite una primera consulta.
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