A Galician businessman, who sold thousands of old masks during the pandemic to other businessmen in Viana do Castelo, faces a charge that carries a penalty of three years in prison.
Javier Conde, from Santiago de Compostela, was arrested in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, on charges of taking advantage of a shortage of medical equipment to sell old masks that were not even his own.
During investigations it was discovered that a businessman from Viana do Castelo purchased more than 50,000 of these masks during the first half of February 2020. Other, smaller quantities were also sold to businessmen in the region.
According to the indictment, Viana do Castelo, whose identity remains secret, received various payments on February 3, 5, 10, 12, 13 and 17, totaling more than 50 thousand masks for which Minho will pay eight. One thousand euros. The accused says that the Portuguese businessman always went to the warehouse to collect materials.
According to the accusation brought by the Spanish Public Prosecution, reported by the newspaper Curio GallegoThe Spanish businessman has been working in real estate since 2015, and had for sale a suite in Poligono de Tambre, in Compostela, containing old medical supplies, left by a company that went bankrupt before the pandemic.
The Spanish newspaper reported that after a long investigation process, the case was transferred to the Compostela Criminal Court, awaiting the date for the start of the trial, where the Public Prosecution is demanding three years in prison for the Spanish businessman, on charges of fraud.
The indictment said that Condé took advantage of medical materials, especially FFP2 masks, which were in great demand at the time around the world, and decided to “take advantage of them, seize them and sell them to third parties.”
On 27 March 2020, during the first days of general confinement in both Galicia and Minho, the police entered the warehouse and found several empty cardboard boxes, which previously contained masks that the accused had already sold.
The unit value of each of these masks was estimated in March 2020 at six euros, although weeks earlier, in wholesale sales, it was only 30 cents.
The businessman ended up being arrested in April
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