Vodafone Spain ordered to pay €18m to former ONO CFO

Vodafone must reportedly pay upwards of €18m (£15m) to Carlos Sagasta, former Chief Financial Officer at ONO, the cableco Vodafone Spain (VfS) acquired in 2014. Having attempted, unsuccessfully, to sue ONO’s former Chairman José María Castellano, ex-Chief Executive Rosalía Portela, and Sagasta for alleged tax fraud, following the takeover, VfS is said to have been forced to settle in each case and cover unpaid bonuses for all three to a total of over €55m. The costs of the case add to the pain Vodafone is seeing from falling revenue in the Spanish market. It also thrusts the rationale behind VfS’ ONO acquisition further into the spotlight, after recent speculation that the Group could offload its Spanish operations to rival MÁSMÓVIL, and receive little more than ONO’s valuation when it bought the business (Vodafonewatch, #181 and passim).