Operation against the Russian mafia in Spain

Judge Baltasar Garzón launches operation against the Russian Mafia in Spain

The national police and Spanish Civil Guard have carried out an extensive operation against the Russian mafia in Spain. The High Court judge Baltasar Garzón has ordered 25 arrest warrants. So far at least 18 arrests have taken place, principally in the Costa del Sol, according to sources close to the investigation. Other arrests have also taken place in the provinces of Alicante, Malaga, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands. The operation is a result of a coordinated effort between the anticorruption prosecution unit and the High Court judge Baltasar Garzón.

More than 400 police and secret service agents have participated in the operation called Troika, which has also been helped by the collaboration of the intelligence services belonging to other countries such as Switzerland, Germany and the US.
It is believed that amongst other activities the Russian mafia in Spain laundered money, traded in arms and ordered assassinations. Garzón has discovered more than 500 bank accounts used by the network to launder millions of euros every year in tax havens.

Amongst the 18 people already arrested there are at least 4 leading members of the mafia who were resident in Alicante, Marbella and Nerja. The rapid action of the police meant that all those arrested had no time to react against the operation which was carried out in several locations simultaneously.

As well as the 25 arrest warrants several businesses and luxurious residences where the presumed leading members of the mafia and their families lived in locations such as Palma de Mallorca, Calviá, Nerja, Málaga and Madrid are currently being searched by the police.

The operation which has taken place today against the Russian mafia in Spain has taken years of careful planning. Several countries have already asked for some of those detained in operation Troika to be sent back so that they can be prosecuted there. In the next few hours Garzón will travel to different parts of the country where the arrests have taken place.

Ex mayor sentenced to prison

Four year prison sentence for the ex Mayor of Andratx

The Regional Court in Palma de Mallorca has condemned the former mayor of Andratx, Eugenio Hidalgo, to four years in prison for the construction of an illegal chalet on part of his estate which was considered to be protected land.

The ex-director of territorial control, Jaume Massot, has also been condemned to three years in prison and the ex-legal advisor,Ignacio Mir, to one year in prison.

Arrests in Madrid Town Hall on Charges of Corruption

Yesterday the Spanish Civil Guard carried out 9 simultaneous searches of public buildings which form part of Madrid town hall. The Environment agency and Urban planning departments are being investigated together with 3 town councils -Centro, Chamberí and San Blas.

Police sources confirmed that the operation nicknamed Guateque is the result of an investigation into presumed corrupt behaviour of some of Madrid town hall’s officials. The Vice Mayor of Madrid, Manuel Cobo, said that there were around 16 town hall workers involved in the case and so far at least 3 had been arrested this morning. The charges range from bribery, neglect of duty and the abuse of power.

In a press conference Cobo went on to emphasise that the majority of those under investigation have been working for many years in Madrid’s town hall and there were no elected councillors or high ranking officials under investigation. He said that the investigation was looking into the charging of illegal commissions paid in exchange for licenses for the opening of small businesses such as shops, restaurants and discos.

Cobo had not been able to put a figure on the amount of the commission paid to town hall officials involved in the case. He emphasised again that the operation was against civil servants within Madrid’s town hall and that it wasn’t the town hall itself that was being investigated. He couldn’t rule out whether there would be any further arrests.

The investigation which has been underway since this summer has involved 10 telephone lines being tapped as well as houses and businesses being searched. Police carrying out the investigation have seized documents and computers.

Madrid’s Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón said that ‘no type of irregular behaviour by Madrid town hall employees would be tolerated’. Moreover he said that he didn’t want this case to tarnish the reputation of the rest of the town hall’s workforce.

Related: Guide to Madrid

Corruption cases in Gran Canaria

Two former PP Mayors arrested on corruption charges in Gran Canaria

The Spanish Civil Guard has searched the town hall in Santa Brigada, Gran Canaria for information on irregularities in the public accounts department. Six people including 2 ex PP mayors have been detained in the operation. Those arrested face charges of embezzlement and other irregularities committed whilst in charge of the town hall.

Santa Brigada has a population of 20,000 inhabitants and is located inland in Gran Canaria. The arrests have taken place following accusations made several months ago by various councillors of irregularities committed by some of the town hall’s mayors.

Furthermore the Civil Guard have searched several houses in Santa Brigada as well as the town hall. Santa Brigada town council was also searched in June in this year on the order of a judge in charge of the case when the town hall refused to hand over documents.

Related: Guide to Gran Canaria # Best beaches in Gran Canaria #

Civil Guard Investigating PP in Melilla

According to reports in the Spanish press, doubts over the validity of postal voting have been raised in Melilla. Following accusations made by members of the Melilla Coalition Party the Public Prosecutor’s office ordered the Civil Guard to investigate possible fraudulent practices related to local and regional elections to be held in Spain this weekend.

Yesterday the Civil Guard searched an education centre in Melilla and found food vouchers each with a value of 60 euros. According to the Melilla Coalition Party these vouchers have been given out to Muslim citizens in exchange for votes in favour of the PP. Furthermore, the food vouchers carried the signature of Hassan Driss the Regional Vice-Minister for Welfare and also the PP candidate for Melilla.

Around 90 documents were discovered including 25 named food vouchers, over 20 applications for postal votes and up to 23 voting cards with the same names as those which appeared on the food vouchers.

During their search of the premises the Civil Guard also discovered 8 envelopes which included all the documentation necessary for postal voting. However, each of these envelopes were votes in favour of the PP

Controversy in lead up to local and regional elections

Possible mal practice regarding the electin Castelló Town Hall

According an article published this week in the Levante Newspaper the Town Hall in Castellon, run by Spain’s main opposition party the PP, has allowed the inscription of 117 Rumanians on the electoral register. However, all 117 are registered as residing at the same address which happens to be the headquarters of Cáritas, a charity run by the Catholic church.

This situation means that as a result of registering numerous residents at the same address, approved by the local government, more than 100 people who possibly may not really reside in the area have been given the right to vote in the forthcoming local elections.

Conditions at the headquarters of Cáritas, which in reality is only an advice centre, are not those of a residence and according to the paper it is impossible for 117 people to live there.

The discovery of this situation opens the controversy once again over the race for the Rumanian vote in the local elections and the reports of PP run Town Halls in and around Castellon registering fictitious inhabitants on their electoral register.

So far the local government has not questioned the validity of the 117 Rumanians residency at the Caritas headquarters in Castellon and when a reporter from Levante Newspaper went to Castellon to investigate whether 117 Rumanians really lived in the Cáritas Headquarters nobody answered the doorbell.

This is the latest in a series of controversies in the lead up to elections next weekend. In several regions around Spain, parties have accused eachother of trying to inflate the electoral register in order to increase their own votes.

Corruption case in Granada

Town Councillor accused of corruption freed on bail

Manuel Fernández, a PP town councillor for Alhendín in Granada in charge of town planning, was freed on bail following 8 hours interrogation. He is accused of bribery, neglect of duty, extortion and price fixing.

Amongst other charges he is accused of irregularities in the planning and construction of an industrial estate (Marchalhendín) and a residential estate (Novosur) according to his lawyer who spoke to journalists following the councillor’s court appearance.

He has been given 8 days to pay his bail set at 18,000 euros. He pleaded innocent on all charges and defended the legality of his actions. Details of the interrogation have yet to be made public.

The case came to light when PSOE councillors reported several irregularities in his department. PSOE have accused the town hall of ‘losing’ 16 million euros by selling off land for the industrial estate which was valued at 24.25 million euros for just 9 million euros. In addition Manuel Fernández is accused of removing public rights of way valued at 750,000 euros on roads that pass through the estate and handing them over free of charge to the developer.

Related:
Guide to Granada

Another possible corruption case in Spain

The wife of the Mayor of Badajoz accused of selling an estate on same day as the town hall increases building rights

According to Cadena SER, The wife of the Mayor of Badajoz sold an estate for almost 2 million euros on the same day that the town hall authorized building rights over the same land. According to the radio station, the building permission was approved in a meeting chaired by her husband, Miguel Celdrán who is also a PP member of the Spanish senate.

The estate which was sold in December 2003 is more than 14,000 m2 and belonged to the Mayor’s wife, María Leonor Fernández, and her two brothers. It was sold to a well known property developer. The building permission was annulled by Rodríguez Ibarra, president of the Extremaduran government and a member of PSOE one year later.

According to La Cadena SER Miguel Celdrán is refusing to speak to reporters about the matter. However, José Ramón Suárez, spokesperson for PSOE in the Town Hall said that PSOE did not believe in coincidences like these, referring to the authorization given to build on the land being granted on the same day that the land was sold for almost 2 million euros. The property developer insists that the land was bought at the market price.

At present the Town hall of Badajoz is immersed in an unprecedented constitutional crisis and its Counsellor for Finance has resigned following 12 years in the post.

Related:
Mayor arrested in anti-corruption raid in Marbella
Ex-mayor of Marbella on corruption charges
Corruption in Spanish politics
Corruption in Spain on the decline (2004)