Misuse of corporate assets
Misuse of corporate assets
'The directors, in fact or in law, of civil and commercial corporations, as well as of non-profit associations, who, with fraudulent intent and for personal direct or indirect purposes, have made use of the property or credit of the legal entity, although they knew that doing so was meaningfully detrimental to the property interests of the legal entity and those of its creditors or associates.'
Misuse of corporate assets is described as a conflict of interest between the directors and the company. The director's personal interests are placed above corporate interests without intention.
Before one can speak of the crime of misuse of corporate assets, 5 legal conditions must be present.
- The capacity of the perpetrator: the perpetrator of this crime must be a director of the company. The legislation applies to directors in fact and in law. Directors in law are directors appointed by the General Assembly. Directors in fact are employees who perform day-to-day management.
- Object: the use of the legal entity's property or credit. An example is the use of company personnel for personal occasions.
Detriment to the legal entity and that of its creditors/partners: the legislator requires that there must be an actual detriment to the legal entity and that there must be an effective harm suffered. - Objective: for personal direct or indirect purposes. The driver must use the property for personal purposes. This can be direct when it is for himself, but this can also be indirect when it is for friends or family.
- Deceptive intent: There must really be an intention to remove the asset from possible seizure by creditors and appropriate it elsewhere outside the interest of the company.
The crime of "misuse of corporate assets" is punishable by imprisonment from one month to five years and a fine from 100 to 500,000 euros.
The amounts of this fine have yet to be multiplied by the opdeciemen. Right now, the opdeciemen are equal to 8. (fine amount x8)
