SPAIN Disgraced former banker, Mario Conde, went on trial yesterday, accused of driving a retail bank, Banesto, to the brink of collapse in one of the nation's worst financial scandals. But as soon as the trial got under way, the defence asked judges to throw out the bulk of the case and the prosecution asked for a one-month delay. The court did not rule immediately on the motions, but went ahead with a series of technical matters.
Conde, Banesto's former chairman, is charged with eight counts of fraud, falsification of public documents and misappropriation of funds during his six years at the helm. If convicted, he faces up to 44 years in prison.
Conde appeared in court with his trademark slicked-back hair, wearing a grey suit.
Also on trial in the National Court are 10 former associates in a case that is expected to last more than six months and bring some of Spain's leading political and economic figures to the witness stand.
Banesto had run up a deficit of 605 billion pesetas (£2.5 million) when the Bank of Spain stepped in on December 28th, 1993, to remove the board and stave off the company's collapse. The state bail-out cost 192 billion pesetas (£1.7 billion).
Conde is accused of having siphoned off large sums from the bank's accounts for his own use, principally by overcharging Banesto for companies he or colleagues had previously purchased.
In a related case this spring, Conde was convicted of fraud and sentenced to six years in prison, but is free on bail pending his appeal. That case, known as Argentia, centred on a 600 million peseta payment made in 1990 by Banesto to Argentia Trust, a shadowy company based on the Lesser Antilles island of St Vincent, a tax haven. As part of the sentence, Conde was ordered to pay Banesto back the 600 million pesetas and was also fined £70,000.
A little-known lawyer before he bought his way on to the Banesto board in 1987, Conde's flair for business and consummate salesmanship vaulted him into the Spanish financial elite. He cut a dashing figure across the thriving Spain of the late 1980s, using his financial finesse to elevate him to the brink of a political career.