Spanish high court has initiated an investigation against Bankia’s ex-chairman Rodrigo Rato and 33 officials over allegations that their acts had led the bank to bankruptcy.
The lawsuit was filed over falsifying accounts and balance sheets, dishonest and fraudulent administration and appropriation of funds and stock price manipulation ahead of seeking EUR19bn ($23.8bn) in state aid in May this year.
After Bankia sought monetary assistance from the government, Spain itself was forced to seek up to €100bn as rescue money for its banks from Europe.
According to the court filing, Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez, the ex-governor of the Bank of Spain and Francisco Celma, a partner at Deloitte responsible for auditing the lender’s accounts will be called to testify.
Before its nationalization, Bankia had declared a profit of €309m for 2011 but was later restated to a €3bn loss, following which Rato had stepped down as chairman of Bankia in May 2012 and was replaced by Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, a former executive of BBVA.
The Spanish lender was established from the merger of seven regional lenders, which gripped into trouble in 2007, due to collapsing of real-estate bubble in Spain.