Jonathan Andek, the son of the founder of the Spanish clothing chain Mango, escaped from prison in the 2024 murder of his father, businessman Isaac Andek. A court in Barcelona released Andek Junior after his defense posted bail of one million euros. He was banned from leaving the country and ordered to appear in court once a week.
Isak Andić, a native of Istanbul, moved to Catalonia in the 1960s. Along with his brother Nahman Hu Founded In 1984, Mango Group opened its first store in central Barcelona. The company has become a global brand and a direct competitor to another Spanish fashion company – Inditex (brands Zara, Massimo Dutti and others). The Mango chain of stores now includes about three thousand stores in more than 120 countries around the world.
Isaac Andek died in December 2024. He was a 71-year-old businessman He falls From a height of more than 100 meters in the mountains of Montserrat near Barcelona, where he went on a hike with his son Jonathan. At the time of his death, Forbes estimated Mango’s founder’s fortune at $4.5 billion. He was the fifth richest man in Spain.
Initially, the death of Andek Sr., who loved outdoor activities, was ruled an accident. But on May 19, Catalan police arrested Jonathan on suspicion of murder. His relatives rejected these accusations. Family representatives said in a statement that there was “no evidence of his guilt” and that he was “completely innocent.”
how He writes El Pais, there are several reasons to doubt Andek Junior:
- Jonathan visited Montserrat three times in the week before his father fell from the mountain.
- The police found inconsistencies in Jonathan’s testimony, and his mobile phone disappeared under strange circumstances.
- Business-related disputes arose between father and son.
At the time of his death, Isaac Indyk was serving as non-executive Chairman of Mango and owned 95% of the company’s shares. His son Jonathan was his father’s deputy, and before that, for 18 years, he developed the direction of Mango’s men’s line. After his father’s death, he and his two sisters inherited a share in the company. Another 5% of the shares belong to Tony Ruiz, the company’s CEO, who also became chairman of the board after the death of Andek Sr.
Tension in the relationship between father and son, about that He writes El Pais is linked to Mango’s multi-million dollar losses and the lack of a clear path for the company’s development in 2014-2018. At the time, Jonathan was running the brand. The conflict reached such a point that Isaac Indyk had to cut short his year-long vacation to travel and return to running the company. His son was replaced by Tony Ruiz, a native of the Spanish branch of the hardware store chain Leroy Merlin.
Sources told El Pais newspaper that Jonathan was “humiliated” by the decision. His father, in turn, did not highly appreciate his son’s professional qualities. Other sources associated with Mango claim that Jonathan did not initially ask to be made the head of the company, the conflict had long exhausted itself and by the time of his father’s death their relationship was good.
Judge too Shown To Jonathan’s “possible economic motive.” According to El Pais newspaper, investigators studied the correspondence between the father and son via the WhatsApp application. It follows that in mid-2024, a few months before Mango’s founder died, his son “learned of his father’s intention to change his will and establish a charitable foundation.”
The court ruling states that Jonathan was “obsessed with money” in the past and even asked his father for his share of the inheritance during his life. When he learned about the fund, he admitted that his attitude toward money “was wrong” and invited his father to discuss this and other issues while walking to Montserrat. This march finally took place on 14 December.
The publication’s interlocutors claim that the businessman will leave “part of his fortune” to the fund and hinted that this move may cause discord in the family. But other sources confirm that funding the foundation does not mean a significant decrease in his children’s inheritance.
In addition, according to one of the final projects of the future foundation, Andek’s children were to become the trustees of the organization and the main responsible persons with “extremely important” content.
Andek Sr. was never able to launch the foundation, which, El Pais sources say, “was his main life project, his way of leaving something for the community and remaining in its memory.”