MADRID—Spain's Supreme Court Thursday sentenced Banco Santander SA Chief Executive Officer Alfredo Sáenz to three months of imprisonment and barred him from banking for the same period for making false criminal accusations in a case dating back to 1994.
But Mr. Sáenz, one of Spain's most powerful executives, is unlikely to serve the sentence because he has no prior criminal record, a court official said. Mr. Sáenz plans to appeal the ruling and remain at the helm of the euro zone's largest bank.
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Alfredo Sáenz plans to appeal the ruling and stay at Santander
Santander said in a filing with Spain's stock-market supervisor that its board "reiterated its confidence" in the CEO. Mr. Sáenz is credited with the expansion strategy that positioned Santander as a global retail-banking powerhouse and the euro zone's biggest bank by market value.
A bank spokesman said that Mr. Sáenz would appeal the Supreme Court's ruling with the country's Constitutional Court, in a legal process that could extend from two to four years. The sentence would be suspended while the case continues. Mr. Sáenz also plans to appeal to Spain's Justice Ministry and file a request to commute the sentence.
The Supreme Court's three-month sentence reflects a more lenient stance than a lower tribunal that in 2009 sentenced the CEO to six months in prison for making false criminal accusations when he was head of Banco Español de Credito SA, or Banesto.
Mr. Sáenz made a name for himself by turning Banesto around after Santander bought it in 1994. He became Santander CEO in 2002 and played a key role in many of its cross-border acquisitions over the last decade, including landmark deals such as the 2004 takeover of the U.K.'s Abbey National PLC and the 2007 acquisition of Brazil's Banco Real.
Mr. Sáenz couldn't be reached directly, but his lawyers have denied he was involved in any wrongdoing.
The case against Mr. Sáenz is related to efforts made by Banesto in 1994 to recover a €3.8 million ($5.3 million) loan and involved four of the bank's clients.
Banesto filed a criminal complaint against the four clients in an attempt to force them to pay back debts, court documents from an earlier trial show. That complaint was later dismissed; the clients filed countercharges against Banesto and Mr. Sáenz, accusing them of lodging a false criminal complaint.
Mr. Sáenz disputed this claim, but a lower court ruled against him, sentencing Mr. Sáenz to six months in prison in late 2009. The case then reached the Supreme Court, following an appeal from Mr. Sáenz.
Write to Jonathan House at jonathan.house@dowjones.com and Santiago Perez at santiago.perez@dowjones.com
Online.wsj.com
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