Defence for companies and executives, action for consumer groups · Author: Francisco Javier Martín Porras, criminal lawyer and court expert · SCJE team
Between the consumer infringement and fraud there is a little-known criminal strip: offences against the market and consumers. Advertising with false claims capable of causing serious harm, manipulation of measuring devices, billing for services not rendered or the use of inside information are punished with prison. We defend accused companies and executives, and harmed consumer groups.
In brief. In brief. False advertising: prison of 6 months to 1 year or a fine (art. 282). Fraudulent billing with manipulated meters: prison of 6 months to 1 year and a fine. Stock-market insider trading: up to 6 years in aggravated cases. Corporate criminal liability and immediate reputational damage.
Articles 281 to 288 of the Criminal Code punish the serious pathologies of the market: withdrawing essential goods to force price alterations (art. 281), advertising with false claims capable of causing serious and manifest harm to consumers (art. 282), falsehood in economic and financial information to investors of listed companies (art. 282 bis), fraudulent billing through manipulated measuring devices (art. 283), the dissemination of false news and operations to manipulate prices, including “pump and dump” schemes with listed crypto-assets (art. 284), and the use or supply of inside information (arts. 285 and 285 bis), closing with access-condition services and the common provisions of art. 288, which orders the publication of the judgment and provides for corporate liability.
Our practice: for accused companies and executives, market expert evidence, metrological expert evidence on meters with chain of custody, and the reconstruction of Chinese walls in insider cases; for harmed consumer groups, prior consumer files that prove knowledge, and the criminal action that multiplies the recoverable liability.
| Conduct | Article | Content | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawal of essential goods | Art. 281 CP | Forcing shortages or price alterations | 1 to 5 years and fine; aggravated in catastrophe |
| False advertising | Art. 282 CP | False claims with serious and manifest harm aptitude | 6 months to 1 year or fine |
| Investor information falsehood | Art. 282 bis CP | False economic-financial data in prospectuses | 1 to 4 years; aggravated if harm materialises |
| Fraudulent billing | Art. 283 CP | Manipulated meters, pumps or scales | 6 months to 1 year and fine |
| Market manipulation | Art. 284 CP | False news, deceit or operations altering prices | 6 months to 6 years, fines, disqualification |
| Insider trading | Arts. 285-285 bis CP | Use or supply of inside information | 6 months to 6 years according to gravity |
| Conditional-access services | Art. 286 CP | Circumvention of access systems; pirate IPTV | Fines or prison; the reseller always answers |
| Common provisions | Art. 288 CP | Publication of the judgment; corporate liability | Fines and penalties of art. 33.7 CP |
Summary drawn from the Spanish source page for orientation purposes. The applicable provisions are those of the Criminal Code in force at the relevant time; each case requires individual analysis by a criminal lawyer.
Original commentary by the firm on articles 281 to 288 CP. Market expert evidence, metrological examinations with chain of custody, accounting evidence on what was known and when, and the reconstruction of Chinese walls: these cases are won with technique, and compliance is the structural defence.
The criminal filter is the serious and manifest harm: standard sector exaggeration remains an administrative matter. Market expert evidence draws that border.
The offence requires specific, unpublished and relevant information: the Chinese wall and the exact moment of knowledge, proved with metadata, decide the case.
Without manipulation of the device there is no offence: technical defects and reading errors are contractual and administrative matters. The metrological expert report deactivates the criminal route.
Miracle products with health risks or invented returns: the criminal action, built on the prior consumer files, multiplies the recoverable liability.
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