Julián Muñoz and Del Nido get seven and a half years in prison

José María del Nido

MARBELLA (Agencies) The former mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz, was sentenced yesterday to seven and a half years in jail for his part in the Minutas case, an spin-off of the Malaya case, Spain's largest. The judge also sentenced the President of Sevilla Football Club, José María del Nido, to the same time in jail - plus payment of €3,058,505 and €2.7 million respectively, and are barred from public office for 15 years. The alleged head of the Malaya case, also involved in this one, Juan Antonio Roca, got 4 years in jail. The case arises from a systematic 'decapitalization' of the Marbella treasury, called Minutas because this is another word for bills, as presented by lawyers (Del Nido is one), but which in this case were presented between 1999 and 2003, but no legal work done for them. The case can be appealed to the Supreme Court but there is no news that they will be.

Spain's two largest corruption cases have property developer in common; properties in Sotogrande

SPAIN/Marbella/Sotogrande (Agencies) The two largest (so far) corruption cases in court have one single property developer in common. In both the Gürtel and Malaya cases the name of Emilio Rodríguez Bugallo appears as involved in several very questionable deals. Bugallo, who died while under investigation in the Malaya case, was the father in law of Francisco Correa (photo, at José María Aznar's daughter's wedding), who heads the Gürtel culprits list. He also surfaces as one of the principal beneficiaries of land and property deals carried out by Juan Antonio Roca, who heads a similar list in the Malaya case. The judge in charge of Gürtel, Antonio Pedreira, was recently given a list he had ordered from the Anti-corruption unit of the National Police, that says that properties owned by several if not all of those involved in the case include land, apartments, villas,  garages, boats, luxury vehicles  and such 'humble' items (as one paper put it) all over the country and abroad, accumulated over a decade of dodgy activity. The list includes properties in Marbella and Sotogrande, where developer Emilio Rodríguez Bugallo operated for years. The province of Cadiz alone registers 28 properties in various names and companies asociated with the Gürtel case, others are in Madrid (27), Malaga (16), the  Balearics, Valencia, Alicante, Pontevedra and Barcelona.

Sean Connery misses court appointment

MARBELLA (Agencies) Sir Sean and Lady Connery should have been in court in Marbella yesterday but failed to turn up. Instead, their lawyers sent the judge in the 'Goldfinger' case (really creative name, that) a letter excusing the Connery's absence due to 'age and health'. As we reported here, the case, a spin-off of the infamous Malaya case, is about the Connerys having sold their home in Puerto Banús, which gave way to an allegedly illegal development called Malibú (photo). The finances of the deal are apparently somewhat opaque, so the judge wants to make more enquiries about them.

Spain's biggest corruption case got started this morning

MARBELLA (Agencies / Photo: RTVE) After almost five years of judicial investigation and 95 people on the bench, the Malaya Case opened this morning and is expected to take at least a year. Among other charges, the 95 are variously accused of embezzlement, money laundering, bribery, malfeasance, alteration of prices, influence peddling, arms possession, omission of obligation to pursue crime, use of false public documents, tax evasion ... the list is long. Allegedly masterminded by Marbella Town Hall 'urban consultant' Juan A. Roca, the case has accumulated so many documents -200,000 pages in 196 volumes, plus another 30,000 separate documents for the main case alone- that two lorries were needed to transport them. Nevertheless, a CD containing all the documents were handed to each of the hundred-plus lawyers involved, because Judge José Godino called the paperwork 'impossible'. Among the accused are three people related to Jimena and, naturally, to other places in the Campo de Gibraltar and elsewhere: Juan Antonio Roca, who built an enormous mansion in the municipality, called La Morisca; Julián Muñoz, who has a girlfriend in Jimena and is often seen around the village, and Rafael Gómez Sánchez 'Sandokán', who owned (owns?) the Arenal 2000 development company that left many of its developments unfinished and/or largely unsold.