Seven sent to prison without bail so far in Marbella corruption case

Seven sent to prison without bail so far in Marbella corruption case
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By h.b. - Apr 3, 2006 - 8:00 AM

Deputy Mayor of Marbella, Isabel Garc�a Marcos - Photo EFE

The man at the centre of the operation is Juan Antonio Roca, municipal real estate advisor.

Seven people have now been ordered to prison without bail in the Marbella corruption case Operación Malaya including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the town.
Deputy Marbella, Isabel García Marcos, was arrested at Málaga airport on the return from her honeymoon in Russia.

García Marcos is an ex member of the Socialist Party and in earlier days was one of the main critics of Jesús Gil y Gil, before it seem she swapped sides. She is charged with bribery and of altering the prices of items under municipal auction.

Judge Miguel Ángel Torres ordered prison without bail for the Mayor of Marbella Marisol Yagüe in the early hours of Saturday morning.

He also sent the councillor Victoriano Rodríguez to the same fate. On Friday he sent the Real Estate assessor Juan Antonio Roca also to prison without bail, describing him as the ‘real brains’ behind the corruption in the town hall. The judge said that the Mayor was only Roca’s puppet. She was imprisoned on charges of receiving four cars as ‘gifts’ from the company awarded the municipal tow truck contract in the town. The cars were used by the Mayor and members of her family.

The El Pais newspaper reports that Juan Antonio Roca operated in the town with the support of the Local Police force. It says that local police protected him from the National Police and Civil Guard and that he used a total of nine mobile phones and had special equipment on other lines to avoid thee recording of his conversations. It was regular practice for his bodyguards to ask the local police for details of cars he considered to be suspicious, supplying them with number plate details. He used an estimated 120 companies to control his network and had purchased two valuable small palaces in the centre of Madrid. He is quoted on saying to a businessman on one occasion – ‘I am the town hall’.

News also comes of 860,000 € cash found in a Madrid office linked to Roca, but his lawyer has said the whole thing is a set up, that there is no proof and that the judge had clear instructions to send his client straight to jail.

The Mayor, Marisol Yagüe declared before the judge for two and a half hours before being taken to prison at Alhaurín de la Torre. She faces charges of bribery, perversion of the course of justice, and of altering the prices in municipal deals. Her lawyer, Pablo Luna noted to the press that the Mayor has not been charged with either money laundering or the mis-use of public funds. Deputy Mayor, Isabel García Marcos, has now contracted the services of ex Magistrate, Javier Gómez de Liaño, as her lawyer.
She is meanwhile sharing a cell with the Mayor in the women’s unit of Alhaurin Prison.

The Municipal Secretary, Leopoldo Barrentes, was not held on remand, but still faces charges.
Local businessman Ismael Pérez, who owns two companies which lease cars to the council was also ordered to prison without bail.
The managing director of the Portillo transport company, Julio de Marco has been charged with bribery but was granted 12,000 € bail, and bail of 30,000 € was granted to the local councillor for Culture, José Jaén Polonio and another local businessman Juan Miguel Saavedra.

On Sunday, Judge Torres continued to take statements and sent a further two people directly to prison without bail. They are Montserrat Corulla, who is accused of being one of the main ‘frontmen’ for the alleged brains of the entire operation, Juan Antonio Roca. She joins Óscar Alberto Benavente considered to be another one of Roca’s frontmen, who is accused of defrauding Hacienda and of money laundering.

One of the people arrested in Madrid, Maria Úrsula Q.L. was also ordered to prison on charges of laundering money linked to the Marbella corruption scams.

Of the 23 people arrested in the case in total, 17 people seen by the Judge so far, ten have been granted bail while seven have not.

Juan Antonio Roca, the man allegedly at the centre of the Marbella corruption case - Photo EFE

The councillors from the governing team in Marbella decided over the weekend to put all their jobs at the disposition of what they called ‘superior organisms, and acting mayor Tomás Reñones apologised to the local people for the current situation in the town.
The Junta de Andalucia has replied that local town halls are autonomous and the councillors should simply resign.
Earlier the Minister for Public Administration, Jordi Sevilla, said the government was looking at the legal possibilities available to restore the political situation in Marbella to normality. He said it was not easy to dissolve a local council, given that many reports would have to be drawn up and rulings made.

Before declaring before Miguel Angel Torres on Friday, Marisol Yagüe, had to first give a statement to the magistrate María del Carmen Rodríguez in Instruction Court Number One in the Copasur case. This relates to the accusations from the constructor Alberto Piñana, that the Mayor was intending to pay for work done at her private villa with municipal funds. Her home as been under a preventative embargo in the case for the last 20 days on accusations that a bill of 949,000 € for the work remains unpaid.
The Mayor ‘justified everything’ and answered all the judge’s questions, but then had to be attended to a forensic doctor after feeling faint.
The doctor’s presence was called for by the mayor’s lawyer Pablo Luna , who said his client felt ill and tired after spending two nights in the cells of Málaga police station, and following surgery she underwent on March 20th. The lawyer said the surgery had consisted in the removal of a tumor, and that the mayor had 57 stitches as a result on her back.

The extent of the arrests makes it almost certain for the government to intervene to dissolve the current corporation.
The process will start in next Friday’s cabinet meeting and consist of setting up a provincial government commission in the Diputación de Málaga whose job it will be to run the town until the Municipal Elections next year.
The Junta de Andalucia is expected to announce any measures they intend to take in the case in a statement on Tuesday.
Yesterday Gaspar Zarrías, Regional Councillor for the Presidency, has said that he is in favour of dissolving the Town Hall.

In the meantime the acting Mayor of Marbella, Tómas Reñones has said that he will lead an administration until others may take control. He invited all the opposition parties to take participate in the making of important decisions.
Ironically Tómas Reñones is an old player from Atlético de Madrid, right from the time when Jesús Gil y Gil was President of the club.

Acting Mayor of Marbella, Tom�s Re�ones - Photo EFE

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