José Luis Ortiz, who represents 563 investors who say they lost a combined €25 million through Herrero Brigantina, has asked National Court judge Santiago Pedraz to remand the company’s founder, economist Juan González Herrero, in provisional custody and impose bail of €2 million. Ortiz has also requested provisional detention with bail for González Herrero’s partner, Kelly Johana Galeano.
The application follows a report by El País that González Herrero was continuing to seek clients by promising to triple their returns in 15 days. The report also described a conversation in which he suggested he had funds abroad and said that investigators finding his overseas assets could jeopardize a possible agreement with prosecutors. Ortiz included the newspaper’s reporting in his submission to the judge.
The lawyer argues that González Herrero has substantial financial means and could flee to a country without an extradition agreement with Spain. His filing also points to Leyec 2024 SLP, a legal firm where González Herrero is listed as sole administrator and which he established with two lawyers three months after the National Court inquiry began.
Pedraz placed González Herrero and ten other Herrero Brigantina executives under investigation in July 2024 in connection with an alleged pyramid scheme involving €200 million. The company promoted investment products, including unit-linked life insurance, and claimed to have 35,000 clients in Europe. According to the report, it marketed products using the names and logos of insurers Axa, Plus Ultra and Generali without permission, raising more than €40 million in 2021 and 2022.
The judge previously withdrew González Herrero’s passport and froze his accounts. He was arrested at Madrid-Barajas airport in December 2023 after returning from Colombia, where his partner is from. Investigators said he had planned to dispose of his assets after learning he was under judicial scrutiny.
Sources: El País Economía.