The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has upheld the two-year prison sentence for Toño Sanchís, Belén Esteban’s former representative, confirming his conviction for misappropriating more than €475,000 from the television personality. The court dismissed Sanchís’s appeal against the earlier ruling by the Provincial Court of Madrid, which also imposed a €2,100 fine and ordered him to compensate Esteban for the amount set during enforcement of the judgment. A LegalToday report published on July 20, 2026, said the High Court’s Civil and Criminal Chamber rejected the appeal, leaving the Provincial Court’s conviction in force. The offense was identified as criminal misappropriation.
The case centers on a contract signed in May 2009 between Belén Esteban and Agencia de Servicios Lorant S.L., which Sanchís managed in practice. Under the agreement, the agency acted as Esteban’s exclusive representative, collecting fees for her media work and image rights. The contract set a 20% commission for the agency, with the remaining 80% to be transferred to Esteban’s company, BEM Imaging SL. The court found that Sanchís repeatedly charged commissions above the agreed rate and diverted the difference for his own benefit.
Between 2009 and 2015, Sanchís withheld impressive sums by instructing the agency’s accounting firm to transfer less than the agreed 80% to Esteban’s company. The court said this practice allowed him to appropriate €362,248 from contracts with production companies Gestmusic and Endemol, as well as Furiezza. The contracts also involved media outlets RBA Lecturas and Cosmetics Galeno, along with La Fábrica de la Tele, which accounted for €164,748 alone. Sanchís also retained €12,100 and €14,520 from two invoices issued by BEM Imaging that were never presented for payment. Further discrepancies brought the total misappropriated amount to €475,571.
When the professional relationship ended in 2015, Esteban demanded a full accounting. The courts ordered Agencia de Servicios Lorant to pay her €388,868, but she recovered only €49,318 in cash and a mortgaged property valued at €375,000. The agency later entered bankruptcy proceedings and was dissolved in 2020. The Madrid court emphasized that Sanchís was the de facto administrator: he calculated commissions, directed the accounting firm and decided what happened to the withheld funds. The judges found the evidence, including contracts and invoices, along with accounting reports and witness statements, sufficiently documented to support the conviction.
This high-profile case follows a series of legal actions involving prominent figures in Spain. For example, a recent court decision in Badajoz barred David Sánchez, brother of the Prime Minister, from public office for nine years after a misconduct ruling, drawing attention to judicial scrutiny of conduct in both the public and private sectors.
The legal process in Sanchís’s case spanned several years and multiple court levels, reflecting the complexity of financial disputes involving high-profile personalities. The appellate ruling confirms the two-year sentence, the €2,100 fine and the compensation obligation. The outcome also reflects Spanish courts’ willingness to impose criminal penalties alongside financial restitution in proven misappropriation cases, regardless of a defendant’s public profile. Such rulings may warn agents and representatives of the legal risks of breaching fiduciary duties.
