Jonathan Andic steps down from Mango, protests innocence

The man accused of killing his billionaire fashion mogul father has stepped down from the family’s fast fashion giant and vowed to prove his innocence.

Jonathan was the only witness and a Spanish court last week named him as a suspect in the 71-year-old’s death.

The judge’s summons said there was sufficient evidence to suggest the death may not have been accidental and that Jonathan Andic “played an active and premeditated role.”

But Jonathan insisted on Tuesday he was innocent and said he now had to live with the “most serious, unjust and unfounded” accusation, on top of the grief over his father’s death.

“A public narrative has been constructed that is one-sided, decontextualized and distorted, and has created a sense of guilt that has no relation to reality,” he said.

“I know dismantling it will take time, effort and intense dedication.”

Jonathan said this meant he would temporarily step back from his role as executive vice president of Mango’s holding company, to which he was appointed in January 2025, about six weeks after Isak’s death.

Mango’s board of directors released a statement shortly after expressing their “full support for Jonathan” and their “full confidence that the legal proceedings will be resolved favorably and confident that this will happen as quickly as possible.”

Chairman and CEO Toni Ruiz expressed his “utmost respect, understanding and support” to Jonathan and emphasized that the company was in the “strongest moment of its history.”

In a summons issued Thursday, Judge Raquel Nieto Galvan said there was “sufficient evidence to suggest that (Isak Andic’s) death may not have been accidental, and that (Jonathan Andic) played an active and premeditated role in his father’s death.”

Nieto Galvan said the heir to the Mango store fortune harbored financial grudges against his father and gave conflicting statements to police and emergency services about the day he died while they were walking together.

The root of the bad relationship was the son’s “obsession with money to the extent that he asked his father (Isak Andic) for an inheritance while he was still alive,” she wrote.

In WhatsApp messages, Jonathan expressed “feelings of hatred, resentment and thoughts of death, blaming his father for his situation”.

But Jonathan reversed that assessment on Tuesday, saying he had loved his father “in a very special way.”

“We shared many happy, cherished and loving moments together,” he wrote.

“As is the case with so many families, we have also experienced difficult and challenging times, which we have overcome through great effort, generosity and support.”

Judges in Spain usually investigate cases to decide whether there are sufficient grounds to go to trial. The summons is part of Nieto Galvan’s preliminary investigation and Jonathan Andic has not been charged.

– Reported at Reuters