A Madrid court has upheld Argentine businessman Alejandro G. Roemmers’ lawsuit against the ventriloquist for breach of contract in a series about the life of St. Francis of Assisi.
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A judicial blow to television producer José Luis Moreno . Madrid’s 52nd Court of First Instance has ordered the businessman—also under investigation by the National Court for a multi-million-dollar fraud against banks and private investors—to return €35,264,686.41, plus interest, to his former production partner for the series Resplandor y Tinieblas (Shining and Darkness), centered on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi, which was never released. Judge Ana María Merino Melara has upheld the claim filed by Alejandro G. Roemmers, considering that it has been proven that the well-known ventriloquist breached his contractual commitments, since he did not deliver a single episode.
Roemmers and José Luis Moreno signed a Shareholders’ Agreement in October 2018 , amended a year later, to carry out the blockbuster, which would also feature prominent figures such as Richard the Lionheart, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Philip II of France, and Pope Innocent III. To this end, the Argentine businessman agreed to finance the project, relying on Moreno’s experience, who took on the role of screenwriter, director, and producer. The Spanish ventriloquist is behind well-known projects such as Aquí no hay quien viva (Here’s No One Lives) and Escenas de matrimonio (Scenes from a Marriage).
According to the ruling, to which this newspaper has had access, it was José Luis Moreno who proposed to Roemmers that they create the series. To this end, in June 2018, they jointly formed Dreamlight International Productions, although their stake subsequently varied, in accordance with a capital increase and Moreno’s financial needs. Thus, Roemmers holds more than 60% of the company’s share capital. Once the production company was established, the businessmen agreed to produce 10 45-minute episodes over a two-year period, through a loan of nine million euros. The agreement was extended in October 2019 to meet a new budget proposed by Moreno, which increased the filming to 24 episodes, at a cost of 14 million euros.
The final investment for The Shining and the Darkness exceeded €35 million. Despite the Spanish artist promising that he was “about to send” the first episodes—in 2021, he stated that the first three were only waiting for special effects and the remaining seven were in post-production, according to the resolution—the work was never delivered. Therefore, in July 2022, Roemmers filed a lawsuit against the Spanish artist to claim the full return of his investment.
The Madrid court ruled in favor of the Argentine businessman, stating that Moreno and his companies, Koping Gestión SL, Youmore TV SL, and Kulteperalia SL—with which he participated in Dreamlight—were “obviously” and “systematically” in breach of contract. “The breach has been proven (…) since the first 10 episodes of the series Resplandor y Tinieblas , as stipulated in the shareholders’ agreement, have not been completed or delivered, nor have the 24 episodes, as later agreed upon in the addendum to that agreement,” reads the ruling, which is not yet final, as it can be appealed before the Provincial Court of Madrid.
Commitments for other series
Judge Merino Melara also highlights that another of the commitments set forth in the agreement that was breached was the production of 10 episodes of other products, Oxford Street Agency and Family Online. Regarding the latter production, Moreno argued that it is pending trial because RTVE halted it. However, the judge states that this is not “a cause for the extinction of the obligations.” The ruling also indicates that the transfer of the exploitation rights for Family Online and Reinas, Virgen y Mártir (Queens, Virgin and Martyr ) was not fulfilled, for which the public broadcaster became embroiled in a controversy over hiring José Luis Moreno to recreate the roles of Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland and Queen Elizabeth I of England, despite the emergence of his debts to the Treasury.
On the other hand, the judge rejected Moreno’s counterclaim against Roemmers, which demanded compensation of almost 300 million euros. The television producer argued that the series about Saint Francis of Assisi was in its rough stages, but could not be completed because his then-partner stopped financing the production. In addition, the National Court opened an investigation, which ordered the freezing of his accounts. In the judge’s opinion, the Argentine businessman strictly fulfilled his part of the contract. After learning of the Madrid court’s ruling, Roemmers, represented by the law firm Ramón C. Pelayo Abogados, reaffirmed his confidence in the judicial system and hopes that “this ruling will serve as a warning to avoid similar behavior in the sector,” according to a statement.
Investigation in the National Court
The Shining and the Darkness has also been the subject of analysis in the National Court, where José Luis Moreno has been under investigation since June 2021, when he was arrested along with several other people as part of Operation Titella , as he is considered one of the ringleaders of a money laundering and fraud scheme targeting banks and investors by simulating the need for financing for a film project . Roemmers, who is listed as a victim in this case due to the alleged misappropriation of part of the €35 million given to develop the historical series, argued before the investigating judge that his former partner has only left him unfinished pieces of a “mediocre” series that resembles an “afternoon soap opera”.
The Civil Guard stated in one of its first reports submitted to the National Court case that Moreno appropriated half of the financing for the series and transferred it to the accounts of another company, with which he allegedly acquired “high-end vehicles or real estate in Prague.” In several of his briefs, Moreno argued that he had been “exclusively dedicated” to the project and denied the military’s theory, emphasizing that he lives “day to day” and his expenses were covered by his sisters. Thus, in one of his statements before the investigating judge of the National Court, he asserted that the “fraud” surrounding the series was a “hoax” and recalled that he submitted several episodes to the case file for viewing to prove his innocence.
Nuria Morcillo
