Pablo Ruiz-Mateos, one of the sons and directors of Nueva Rumasa, is now facing charges of fraud.

The Ruiz-Mateos family, owners of the troubled Nueva Rumasa business empire, has made public all the correspondence they have had for years with the Banco Santander, and the letters show how they admit they have been tricking investors.

One hand-written letter, sent to the bank Chairman, Emilio Botín, by José María Ruiz-Mateos reads,
‘Emilio, Please don’t let us fall, it would be horrible, and of unusual and unnecessary consequences’.

Nueva Rumasa has announced it will be now be taking legal action against Botín, whom José María Ruiz Mateos Jr, blames for the problems by cutting off credit.

The company has recently been issuing bonds paying 8% interest over a year ‘to acquire new companies’, according to the advertising, and now admit that the monies obtained was ‘perhaps not used to that end’. In one of the letters it says ‘now is not the time to invest, it is the time to collect’. It’s thought that 5,000 small investors have been tricked.

Another letter reads
‘Much of the advertising which is being broadcast in the media on investment and job creation forms part of a marketing campaign aimed at public opinion’.

On Tuesday the family applied for bankruptcy protection for two of the largest companies in the group, food companies Dhul and Clesa. The football team, Rayo Vallecano, is expected to be next on the list.

Pablo Ruiz-Mateos, one of the sons and directors of Nueva Rumasa, is now facing charges of fraud. A judge in Madrid has been investigating the sale of shares in the company partner, Gestesa, since the spring of 2009. Nueva Rumasa spoke of a 22 million € bid for the company at the time, a bid now considered to always have been fake.

Workers at Clesa on Tuesday tried to stop several directors of the company from removing documents. They stopped several directors’ cars from leaving the company’s headquarters, but they were finally allowed to leave when the police arrived.