National
Phase Two of Operación Malaya completed in Marbella
By h.b.
Jul 2, 2006 - 7:18 PM

The El Pais newspaper has printed part of the court summary of the statement made by an unnamed but repentant Marbella Town Hall Councillor to the instruction judge Torres in the Malaya corruption case. In it the councillor confesses to payments made in the years 2004 – 2006 and shared out between the councillors by the man alleged to be at the centre of the affair, the municipal real estate assessor Juan Antonio Roca. The councillor says that he or she has been paid 200,000 € in such payments and that when a real estate developer made a payment Roca shared out envelopes among the different councillors, with the Mayor and deputies getting most of the monies, while other councillors collected smaller amounts, such as 6,000 €. In this way Juan Antonio Roca considered that his position was secured.

Of the 14 councillors who signed the motion of no confidence in the Mayor Julian Muñoz in Marbella in 2003, a motion organised by Juan Antonio Roca, 12 have now been arrested. Only Pedro Pérez from the Partido Andalucista remains uncharged, while Carlos Fernández is now the subject of an arrest warrant. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Judge Torres is clear that Roca had complete control of the money, and used the Marbella Town Hall as one of his business interests, which gave him political power to obtain incomes from his dealings with businessmen, and for which he paid a series of costs to the councillors and others. The judge describes Roca as the Mayor in the shadows, who ran the town hall from his office in the planning department despite not being elected by anyone.
Much of the money raised was sent on by Roca to other companies controlled by his front men.

El Pais says that the real accounting which has been uncovered by the judge shows that the councillors in the town hall received between them four million € over just two years – in 2004 and 2005. All the money was collected in and paid out by Maras Asesores, a company owned by Roca and where he kept an office.

The list show 16 councillors and 11 businessmen implicated in the case. The list of businessmen is as follows:
Rafael Gómez Sanchez – Constructor – Arenal 2000
Emilio Rodríguez Bugallo – Constructor – Construcciones Salamanca
Carlos Sánchez Hernández – Real Estate – CCF
Gonzalo Fernández Castaño – Real Estate – GFC
Fidel San Román – Constructor
Cristóbal Peñarroya Sánchez – Real Estate
Enrique Ventero Terleira – Real Estate
Francisco García Lebrón – Real Estate – Aifos
Francisco Aranda Núñez – Real Estate
José Avila Rojas – Constructor
Tomas Olivo López – Owner of La Cañada shopping centre.

The investigating judge believes that the real estate development seen in Marbella has generated 12 billion € over the past 15 years. Juan Atontio Roca received all the backhander monies paid by the businessmen and is thought to have kept 35% of it for himself.

The rest was shared amongst the councillors to ensure that Roca could promise the businessmen guarantees that the Town Hall would not follow up any denuncias made against their developments. The judge believes in most cases backhanders ensured that town planning and other regulations were in effect ignored.