Article 258 Spanish Criminal Code: False or incomplete statement of assets in enforcement proceedings

Article 258 punishes whoever, in judicial or administrative enforcement proceedings, presents an incomplete or untruthful list of assets and thereby delays, hinders or prevents the satisfaction of the creditor, and it provides for a full exemption where a truthful statement is presented in time.

Wording of Article 258 of the Spanish Criminal Code

Elements of the offence

1. Judicial or administrative enforcement proceedings which are under way.
2. The presentation of an incomplete or untruthful list of assets, or the failure to provide it after being required to do so.
3. A result, namely the delay, hindrance or prevention of the satisfaction of the creditor.
4. The absence of the ground of exclusion of paragraph 3, which operates where a truthful statement is presented before the defect is discovered.

Defence strategy

Rectification under paragraph 3. The provision contains a genuine ground excluding prosecution. Presenting a complete statement before the authority has discovered the defect closes the case, and identifying that window at the outset is the most effective step available.

Absence of the required result. The offence requires the satisfaction of the creditor to have been delayed, hindered or prevented. Where the assets were seized in any event, or where the debt was satisfied, the objective element fails, however defective the statement may have been.

Assets belonging to third parties. The second subparagraph of paragraph 1 imposes a duty to justify the enjoyment of assets belonging to third parties. Producing the lease, the loan or the corporate title which covers that enjoyment removes the presumption that the list was incomplete.

Intent as distinct from error. An omission arising from a mistake as to the ownership of an asset, from an accounting error or from a lack of information, without any intent to conceal, does not satisfy the subjective element. Documentary evidence of the source of the data supplied is decisive on this point.

• Article 257 CP: frustration of enforcement
• Asset concealment and insolvency offences
• Civil liability arising from an offence and confiscation
• Enforcement of criminal sentences in Spain

This entry is provided for information only and does not constitute legal advice. The application of any provision depends on the circumstances of the individual case and requires examination of the case file by a qualified lawyer.