Andorra Court Voids 1992 CASS Contracts, Orders Repayment of Millions

Andorra's Batllia court has annulled three advisory contracts from December 1992, signed by former CASS director Antoni Ubach Mortés with Spanish businessman José Manuel Rodríguez García-Mochales and his companies, Collins SA and Holding Collins SA. The ruling, in a civil case initiated by CASS, states that Ubach lacked authority to bind the social security entity, rendering the deals legally void from inception with no effects.

These agreements prompted investments in the early 1990s, including real estate and a stake in Bodegas Luís Megías, contributing to CASS losses of 8,000 million pesetas, or roughly 48 million euros. Not all losses tied directly to these contracts; some received wider CASS backing.

Ubach, already convicted in prior Andorran criminal proceedings, and the Spanish defendants—declared in default for not appearing—must repay all sums received under the contracts, plus legal interest from payment dates, and cover CASS's full legal costs, including attorney and procurator fees. The operative ruling appeared in the Butlletí Oficial del Principat d'Andorra due to the defendants' absence. An appeal remains possible to the Civil Chamber of the Superior Court, and CASS will withhold comment until final.

The matter resurfaced in 2019 when Rodríguez pursued 15 million euros in fees via Spanish courts, alleging successful advice. Spanish rulings, including the Supreme Court in 2023, dismissed without merits review; CASS counterclaimed over 7 million euros for unauthorised acts.

In a separate CASS-related probe, the Batllia has provisionally dismissed the so-called "pensions scandal," launched in April 2024 after fiscalia instructions over overpayments to invalidity beneficiaries from 1971 to 2021, totaling around 6 million euros (or 8 million adjusted for inflation).

The investigating judge concluded the pensions and international agreements area lacked technical and human resources for required periodic checks and accurate calculations under article 172 of CASS law, which caps combined pension and work income at pre-disability levels. Post-2021, controls aligned with legislation; 2022-2023 saw targeted reclamations despite incomplete systematisation.

After 20 months—including document seizures, witness statements and interrogations of current and former officials—the court found no criminal relevance in the control failures, exhausting all investigative steps. CASS had self-reported via forensic analysis, forgoing internal discipline. A parliamentary special commission stalled pending judicial outcome; its future remains unclear.