The sentence of four years and six months is final following confirmation by the Supreme Court. The judges have rejected the suspension of the execution for Josep Morell, but have accepted it for his brother, who is ill.
According to judicial sources consulted by El Periódico, Josep Morell Vázquez, brother-in-law of the former president of the Generalitat Quim Torra, voluntarily entered prison on October 5 to serve a sentence of four years and six months. The sentence combines a crime of tax fraud and another of culpable insolvency, which involves carrying out operations to leave a company without assets to pay its debts.
The Barcelona Court sentenced him in 2021, along with his brother and a third person, as a necessary collaborator in the tax fraud, to one year in prison and a fine of 170,000 euros. For the culpable insolvency, the sentence imposed an additional three years and six months in prison. The High Court of Justice of Catalonia confirmed the ruling in November 2022, and the Supreme Court did the same in October 2025.
The court later denied the suspension of the execution of the sentence for Josep Morell, for health reasons and due to the processing of a pardon. It did accept the suspension for his brother, who is ill.
The pardon request is being processed before the Ministry of Justice, although the Barcelona Court has reported unfavourably. It is the Council of Ministers that decides whether to grant it, and the maximum period for resolution is one year. An eventual pardon would forgive the sentence in whole or in part, but would not eliminate the conviction nor imply a declaration of innocence.
According to the rulings, in 2009 the Morell brothers closed the company Piensos Suprem, of which they were administrators, and sold the seven plots of their factory in Santa Coloma de Farners, owned by the company Can Roure SA. The judges believe they concealed the capital gains from the operation from the tax authorities, which they were obliged to declare: Can Roure should have paid 169,957 euros in corporate tax but only paid 34.07 euros. The rulings also mention cash withdrawals and money transfers to related companies.
The maximum period for the Council of Ministers to resolve the pardon is one year.
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