The Appeals Chamber of Spain's National Court has overturned the acquittal of actress Ana Duato and her husband, producer Miguel Ángel Bernardeau, in the 'Nummaria' case, linked to an alleged tax fraud. The decision quashes the judgment handed down in July 2025 and orders a retrial.
The investigation uncovered an alleged tax-evasion network built around the Spanish law firm Nummaria, headed by Fernando Peña, whose clients included the actress Ana Duato.
According to the facts established at trial, the network used complex corporate structures both in Spain and abroad to reduce or evade the tax bills of numerous clients, among them high-profile figures from the entertainment world such as Ana Duato and Imanol Arias.
The courts have now ordered a new trial for her and her husband before a different panel of judges. The National Court had acquitted actress Ana Duato of tax offences; however, it sentenced the tax and accounting adviser to 80 years in prison, Fernando Peña, owner of the Nummaria firm.
Imanol Arias was sentenced to two years and two months in prison
The actor Imanol Arias was also sentenced to two years and two months in prison in July 2025, a sentence he accepted after reaching an agreement with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. He also paid back 2,225,973 euros to the Spanish tax authorities.
The Appeals Chamber has also cut by two years the sentence imposed on tax adviser and head of the Nummaria firm, Fernando Peña. As a result, his prison term has been reduced from 80 to 78 years, after the court found that one of the tax offences for which he was convicted was already time-barred.
In the case of Fernando Peña, the Appeals Chamber has likewise ordered a retrial, although only in relation to his role as a necessary accomplice in the offences for which Ana Duato and her husband, Miguel Ángel Bernardeau, were charged.
The Chamber finds that the reasoning behind Ana Duato's acquittal is insufficient, as it does not adequately explain why no fraud or concealment existed even though she channelled income through a front company, thereby reducing the amount of income tax she paid.
The actress only paid tax on 40% of the income received
The Criminal Division of the National Court had acquitted the actress on the grounds that, as a professional with no tax training, she could reasonably have believed she was acting lawfully thanks to the advice she received on how to optimise her tax position.
The Appeals Chamber, however, accepts the arguments put forward by the State Attorney's Office and questions this alleged lack of knowledge, pointing out that it is not credible that she failed to notice the sham nature of the contracts after receiving for three years amounts far higher than those initially agreed.
In line with the State Attorney's Office, the Chamber holds that the proven facts show that Ana Duato took part in setting up companies, in particular the front company GAUMUKH AEIE, as well as in various legal acts, image rights assignment contracts and the receipt of income linked to her services through those structures.
Because of the declaration system she chose, the actress only paid tax on 40% of the income she received, meaning that, out of 2,240,000 euros over three years, she declared only 896,000 euros, a discrepancy that, according to the court, is obvious and not adequately justified.
Income channelled through a company created by the accused himself
In the case of producer and screenwriter Miguel Ángel Bernardeau, the court finds that the doubts it cited over the possible concealment or fraud attributed to the involvement of the tax adviser are not properly reasoned. Drawing on case law, it concludes that the income was received through a company created by the defendant himself.
According to the Chamber, Fernando Peña's aim was to make his clients' financial dealings opaque with the purpose of defrauding the public revenue, by avoiding payment of taxes such as VAT, corporation tax and personal income tax.
The court clarifies that the judgment may only be challenged in cassation as regards the conviction of tax adviser Fernando Peña, and not the part ordering the retrial of Ana Duato and Miguel Ángel Bernardeau.
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