Spanish telecom chief admits false accounts and quits

Spanish wireless networks provider Gowex said yesterday it would file for bankruptcy and its chief executive and founder Jenaro Garcia Martin had resigned after admitting he had reported false accounts for at least four years.

The move came just hours after it said it had hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out a forensic audit of its accounts in response to a report from a firm that had questioned its revenue reporting.

Trading in Gowex shares was suspended on Thursday after they dropped by about 60 per cent in two days, wiping about €870 million off the company’s stock market value, in the wake of the Gotham report.

“Mr Garcia Martin, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, has told several board members that the accounts of the company, for at least the last four years, were unfaithful and that he was responsible for this misrepresentation,” Gowex said in a statement.

Mr Garcia Martin could not be reached for comment. His Twitter account yesterday read: “I apologise to all. I am heartily sorry.”

A later posting read: “I made the deposition and confession. I want to collaborate with the justice. I face the consequences.”

– (Reuters, Bloomberg)