The Martínez family has become more bitter than ever over the property of millions of people. sweets they had been making for decades because of the inheritance received, or rather the large capital management with which … They were allegedly victims of a scam. Their own lawyers, who would have played the role of advisors by guiding them in the movements they had to make with this capital, they would have taken advantage of it to deceive them and encourage them to make investments whose primary beneficiaries would not be the family, but the law firm itself.
The iconic image of the smiling boy with a cupcake in his hand has changed faces in a dramatic destiny for which it was a thriving business of sobaos, muffins, croissants and all kinds of pastries. The family company of the heirs of the founder Epifanio Martínez, Inversiones Montellano SLfiled a complaint with the Court of Instruction number 52 of Madrid, which was admitted for investigation, against its lawyers, three partners of the ABCGC firm and three other professionals linked to the alleged scheme, for fraud, embezzlement, falsification of documents and professional disloyalty.
All this for one hijacking a sweet cake that they appreciate in 50 million of euros “promoted by the firm itself for its own benefit” by recommending all kinds of movements on the part of the three lawyers of this firm. The complaint, to which ABC had access, indicates that they offered the family, through the investment company, two millionaires investments in Andorra and another in Marbellawhich would have been a “total ruin” for their clients, but not for them, at the risk of losing a good part of the money invested.
The family’s legal advisers are said to have acted in their own interest: “They were able to ambition“, underlines the complaint, and “they ignored all the principles which should inspire their advice” to enrich themselves “illicitly” and “become a millionaire” to the detriment of the family saga. The complaint points out that in addition to charging fees for their advice, they also did so for each euro invested through them, through “deception” and “breach of trust”, because the lawyers, the text indicates, participated personally in the companies that benefited from the investments. hiding it from their customers.
The events date back to 2021, according to the complaint, when the partners of the firm offer the family to invest in various assets real estate. The lawyers would have convinced the family to take these significant steps by which they sought profitability and, above all, the need to mobilize this capital which could not remain paralyzed, particularly due to the tax impact that it could have for its corporate interests.
But in May of this yearthe family discovers that these three lawyers participated in what they describe as a monumental “scam” by hiding a large part of their interests from them. The CEO of Inversiones Matollano, Clara Isabel Martinezhe noticed the lawyers’ insistence on signing certain documents, which led him to appear in court with his mother and two brothers, members of this society. A crossing of interests because of a too sweet inheritance which ended up in court.
The firm denies irregularities and emphasizes that it has never been an advisor
The lawyers from the ABCGC firm, with whom this newspaper contacted, They categorically deny any wrongdoing.. Sources from the criminal law firm Campaner Law, which took charge of the defense of the accused, specify that their actions were limited to the provision of legal and non-advisory services in investments. And they consider that their professional work in favor of the legal interests entrusted to them by the Martínez family has been appropriate.
The alleged scam
A million euros is at the origin of the complaint that the lawyers allegedly diverted
Furthermore, they deny the practices by which their clients were forced to make decisions, let alone make specific investments. And they emphasize it: the CEO of Inversiones Matollano has a in-depth university education in economics and has been investing in all types of businesses for a decade.
A bakery store
The legacy comes from the legacy left by Luis Martínez, one of the sons of the founder of the pastry shop, Epifanio Martinez40 years ago in Burgos. Luis, who died in 2023 at the age of 74 following serious health problems, was the last president of what was a family business, but they decided to sell it to the North American company. Bimbo in 1999.
The origin
This is the year when events began with the so-called wealth advisory councils.
The life of the Martínez family would constitute a real cinema film. A humble couple who leave their home and settle in a small town in Burgos where they take care of a bakery to support her seven children by going door to door. The return to the origins in Cantabria and the start of the opening of workshop establishments until the establishment of a mall which came to represent the rise of industrial pastry in Spain.
The children of historical pastry chefs have already had disagreements in the past over the management of a business which didn’t stop growingalmost like candy does when it goes in the oven. This situation was resolved with the sale of the company to the multinational, for which other large companies in the sector had already bid, and they became rich. But problems with managing those assets have now opened a rift with his own law firm, leading law firms to judicial.
The sweet inheritance
million euros was the capital available after the sale of Martínez to Bimbo in 1999
The Martínez family considers that they were victims of an alleged crime of deception because they were made to believe that the operation was a “great real estate investment opportunity” and that the entire process took place “under legal advice appropriate to the operation”. But they insist, as the trial reports: “Only one deceived person “You could make a loan or financing of a million dollars for which you will not receive any compensation,” he says. Furthermore, the damage they invoke is the final consequence of the state of deception, because as a result of these movements the operation is accepted and their assets have radically disappeared, as the group’s muffins did when they fell into any cup of coffee.