The Sixth Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas has issued a ruling against Héctor de Armas, who was the sole administrator of the company Seguridad Integral Canaria. The sentence is eighteen months in prison for a continued offense of embezzlement. The events occurred when De Armas ordered personnel responsible for safeguarding money in the company's safes to hand over sums of money, which he then used for personal expenses. As part of the sentence, De Armas must compensate six affected banking entities with the amount of 83,000 euros, which he misappropriated.

According to the proven facts, between January 29, 2018, and June 26, 2018, Héctor de Armas gave instructions on seven separate occasions to the security camera personnel of Seguridad Integral Canaria to hand over cash. By signing the corresponding receipts, he received a total of 83,000 euros. These funds belonged to various banking entities such as CaixaBank, Bankia, Cajasiete, BBVA, Banco Santander, Bankinter, and Banco de Crédito Social Corporativo, which had contracted custody services with the company.

The court has also determined that De Armas freely disposed of this amount and did not return it, despite repeated requests from the employees of Seguridad Integral Canaria through whom he had managed the withdrawal of the money.

The sentence, with Magistrate Inocencia Eugenia Cabello Díaz as rapporteur, dismissed the charge of disloyal administration that had been promoted by BBVA. The court considered that the money subject to appropriation did not belong to the company Sociedad Integral Canaria, but to third parties who had contracted custody and deposit services with it.

Although the defendant's defense did not request it during the oral hearing, the court applied the mitigating circumstance of undue delay. This decision is based on the time elapsed since the initiation of the case in February 2019 until the trial, which included various procedural incidents during the investigation conducted by the Investigating Court 6 of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Furthermore, the court dismissed the defendant's allegations regarding the nullity of proceedings due to alleged formal defects during the investigation, including anomalous extensions of the procedure and the presence of an employee of the company and Seguridad Integral Canaria itself as private prosecutor and jointly and severally liable civilly.

The sentence can still be appealed by cassation before the Superior Court of Justice of Canarias. When contacted by this newspaper, Héctor de Armas stated his intention to appeal the decision 'to the highest instance,' expressing his conviction of innocence.