Francisco D’Agostino, a hispano-Venezuelan businessman residing in Spain and active in the international investment field, has achieved a major legal victory in Spain.
A Madrid court has ordered the complete seizure of assets belonging to Manuel March Cencillo, grandson of Juan March Ordinas, the founder of Banca March, following a high-profile property dispute involving the historic Son Galcerán estate.
In 2021, a company associated with D’Agostino entered into a deal to acquire the estate for around ₹668 crore. March received an advance payment of ₹228 crore, but later cancelled the agreement unilaterally and sold the property to another buyer for ₹1,002 crore, refusing to refund the original sum.
In April 2024, the Madrid Court of First Instance No. 10 ruled in D’Agostino’s favour, ordering March to repay the ₹228 crore and an additional ₹28.5 crore as contractual damages. March did not comply with the judgment, prompting the court on 11 June 2025 to initiate a full asset embargo.
The seizure includes all of March’s investment fund shares, real estate, business holdings, and bank accounts in Spain and abroad. The total value of the claim, now with accrued costs and interest, stands at approximately ₹313 crore.
The court noted that March’s justification for breaking the agreement was not credible and highlighted that he stood to gain financially from the secondary sale. The property at the centre of the conflict, Son Galcerán, holds notable historical value, having once belonged to Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria and hosted Empress Elisabeth.
Francisco D’Agostino also garners attention for his familial connection to Luis Alfonso de Borbón, a descendant of Spanish royalty. Though unrelated to the legal proceedings, the connection added public visibility to the case.
Earlier this year, D’Agostino was removed from the U.S. Treasury’s sanctions list after an investigation by OFAC confirmed that his business activities bore no relation to the Venezuelan government.
