Judicial investigation of the Malaya case
First phase
Shortly after becoming mayor, Jesús Gil created a municipal urban planning company, Approach 2000, to carry out the modifications to the PGOU approved in 1986. At the head of the company was José Antonio Roca, whose job was to grant illegal construction licenses under the hypothetical coverage of a new general plan that had not yet been approved. Between 1991 and 2007 in Marbella, some 30,000 illegal homes were built under this procedure. By the time the first arrests occurred, the plot had created a parallel local administration with hardly any administrative and judicial control. It was made up of about 30 companies that employed about 3,500 employees hired by the Marbella town council, which represented an abnormality for a relatively small municipality.[2].
The first investigations began in November 2005. As a result of the investigations, the first phase of arrests took place from March 29, 2006, and took place in the cities of Marbella, Málaga, Madrid, Huelva, Cádiz and Murcia. 29 people were arrested and assets worth 2.6 billion euros were seized.[1].
Agents from the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit participated in the operation. It was initiated by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, after Attorney General Conde-Pumpido created a delegation of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in Malaga.
Among those arrested were:
• - Juan Antonio Roca, advisor to the Urban Planning area of the Marbella City Council, former urban planning manager of the City Council during the Government of Jesús Gil. He was the ringleader of the entire plot. Through his front man Montserrat Corulla, he controlled the money produced by Marbella's municipal taxes and invested it in luxury cars, luxury real estate properties in Madrid and highly valuable works of art.[27] He is accused of embezzlement, money laundering and bribery. The judge ordered him unconditional prison without bail on March 31, 2006.[28][29].
• - Marisol Yagüe, mayor of Marbella since August 13, 2003 after a motion of no confidence against the previous mayor, Julián Muñoz, was successful. The judge ordered him unconditionally imprisoned without bail on April 1, 2006, although after paying bail he was released pending trial.[29][30].
• - Isabel García Marcos, first deputy mayor of Marbella, expelled from the PSOE in 2003 along with two other party councilors for supporting the motion of censure against Julián Muñoz. His great media asset had always been his defense of honesty and his supposed incorruptibility. The judge ordered him to prison unconditionally without bail on April 2, 2006, although after a few days in jail he was able to leave with Marisol Yagüe.[29][31].
• - José Antonio Jaén, Councilor for Culture and Education of the Marbella City Council. Deputy mayor of Nueva Andalucía after being expelled from the PSOE in 2003, since then being part of García Marcos' electoral list. He was provisionally released after paying bail of 30,000 euros. He would later be detained in the second phase.[29][31].
• - Victoriano Rodríguez, Councilor for Traffic and Public Roads of the Marbella City Council. Belonging to the GIL party until he signed the motion of censure against Julián Muñoz, at which time he moved to the mixed group. The judge ordered him unconditional prison without bail on April 1, 2006.[29][30].
• - Leopoldo Barrantes, secretary of the Marbella City Council. The judge released him, although with charges. He would later be detained in the second phase.[29][30].
The description of the assets seized from the detainees found great space in the media and did not go unnoticed by public opinion. Among the assets that the police seized during this phase of the Malaya Operation, numerous works of art stood out - among which stands out a painting by Joan Miró that hung on the wall of a bathroom -, jewelry and precious metals, cash, computers, vans, firearms, safe deposit boxes, electronic equipment, a helicopter, a complete bull farm and a horse farm (103 animals).[29][32].
As a consequence of the imprisonment of the mayor and the first deputy mayor, the second deputy mayor of the Marbella City Council, Tomás Reñones - former player and captain of Atlético de Madrid -, became the acting mayor,[33] although only until April 7, 2006, the date on which the Council of Ministers of the central Government dissolved the Marbella City Council in an unprecedented measure.[34] From this moment on the City Council of Marbella Marbella becomes governed by a managing commission until the municipal elections of May 2007, with its president being the lawyer Diego Martín Reyes, proposed by the PSOE.
Second phase
The second phase of the case, known as Operation Malaya II, took place on June 27, 2006. 300 agents from the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit of the General Commission of the Judicial Police and Udyco acted this time in Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, Seville, Madrid and Pamplona, arresting 30 people, among whom were thirteen former councilors of the City Council of Marbella, builders and promoters.[1][35] Of those detained, prison was ordered for seven former councilors and a builder, release on bail for ten of the detainees and release with charges for eleven people.[36] Among these detainees, it is worth mentioning:.
• - Tomás Reñones, former Atlético de Madrid player. In Marbella he was former second deputy mayor and acting mayor of Marbella for a week after the arrests of mayor Marisol Yagüe and first deputy mayor Isabel García Marcos. Later, a manager took charge of the town hall. The judge ordered him unconditional prison without bail on June 29, 2006.[29][37].
• - Leopoldo Barrantes, former secretary of the Marbella City Council, who was already arrested during the first phase of the operation, although he was released with charges. This time, the judge also decided to release him without bail.[35].
• - José Ávila Rojas, owner of one of the construction and real estate development groups with the most presence in Andalusia and one of the largest in Spain and partner of Juan Antonio Roca's poker games in which up to 3 million euros were bet. A search was also carried out at the headquarters of the construction company Ávila Rojas S.A. On the one hand, the Prosecutor's Office is asking for five years in prison and a 5 million fine for alleged active bribery. On the other hand, five more years in prison for money laundering with a fine that amounts to 55 million euros.[29][36].
• - Rafael Gómez Sánchez, alias Sandokán —due to his physical resemblance—, an important businessman from Andalusia.[38].
During the police operation, Lucía Aguilera, wife of Miguel Jiménez, one of the former councilors arrested, and who was Jesús Gil's secretary for more than ten years, suffered a heart attack that caused her death a few hours later.[39].
The realization of this part of the second phase of Operation Malaya was possible thanks to the documentation found during the searches of the municipal offices of Marbella and other properties intervened in the first phase, as well as the files contained in the seized computers.
On July 17, 2006, a heavy police deployment took place that the vast majority of the media confused with a third phase of the operation. On this occasion, agents from the National Police Corps arrested five people between Marbella and Málaga:
• - Julián Muñoz, former mayor of Marbella after the resignation of Jesús Gil. He lost the mayor's office after a motion of no confidence in August 2003. Involved in other cases of urban irregularities such as the Proinsa case and the Banana Beach case, he is also accused in the second phase of the Malaya case as the alleged perpetrator of crimes of bribery and embezzlement of public funds. Judge Torres decreed him unconditional imprisonment on July 21, 2006.[29][40] The imprisonment of Julián Muñoz had quite a lot of media impact, especially in the so-called gossip press, since at that time he was a romantic partner of the tonadillera Isabel Pantoja.[41].
Third phase
The third phase, also known as Operation Malaya III, began in the early morning of November 14, 2006 with the arrest of eleven people, accused of money laundering and bribery.[1][44] Those arrested were:.
• - Maite Zaldívar, ex-wife of the former mayor of Marbella Julián Muñoz—imprisoned during the second phase of the operation. His home, located in an urbanization in the town of San Pedro de Alcántara, was searched for five hours. Maite Zaldívar, who was working for a season as a collaborator on the Telecinco program A tu lado, came into the spotlight after stating on the air that "bags and bags full of money entered her house" at the time when her husband was mayor of the town in Malaga.[29].
• - Jesús Zaldívar, brother of Maite Zaldívar. Both are accused of money laundering.[29].
• - José María González de Caldas, important bullfighting businessman, representative of the bullfighters Manuel Benítez el Cordobés and Salvador Cortés - among others -, former president of the Sevilla Fútbol Club between 1996 and 1998. He was the former romantic partner of the model "Modelo (fashion)") and Miss Spain Sofía Mazagatos. He is released after paying bail of 50,000 euros.[29][45].
• - The businessmen Giovanni Piero Montalo, Francisco Zambrana, Manuel Lores Romero, Eusebio Sierra Sánchez, and José María Enríquez García; the judicial official Francisco Ramírez Olivera; the director of a Cajamar branch in Marbella, Benjamín Martínez Cantero; and a partner of González de Caldas, Miguel López Benjumea. They were released on bail after giving a statement.[29].
In 2007, new arrests occurred within the framework of the third phase. Some of these arrests were:
• - Florencio San Agapito, arrested on April 23, 2007. He was a retired commissioner of the National Police Corps and head of security at Telefónica. In the 1980s he held the position of head of administration, documentation and information technology of the State Secretariat for Security of the Ministry of the Interior "Ministry of the Interior (Spain)"). He was accused of money laundering and crimes against the Public Treasury.[29][46].
• - Pedro Román was detained unconditionally without bail on April 26. He was former first deputy mayor of Marbella, and number two of the GIL. The judge accused Pedro Román of a crime of fraud, tax crime, money laundering and bribery and decreed his unconditional imprisonment due to risk of flight and possible concealment of evidence.[47]His daughter was released with charges.
• - Isabel Pantoja, singer and romantic partner of Julián Muñoz, was arrested on May 2 and accused of committing several crimes against public finances and money laundering. His arrest produces a new surge in journalistic sensationalism in the world of gossip. The investigating judge Miguel Ángel Torres decreed freedom on bail of 90,000 euros for the tonadillera after a few hours of arrest at the police station.[48].
Fourth phase. The replacement of Judge Torres
Judge Miguel Ángel Torres, responsible for the instructions of the 'Bhale Blanca case' and 'Malaya case', is granted the transfer from his seat in Marbella to court number 5 in Granada. The substitute judge is Óscar Pérez who reviews the situation of several of the accused.[49] The summary until now was opened on July 17, 2007 and days later, on July 23, 86 people were prosecuted, closing the first part of the investigation.[50] [51]That same month, the possible bribery of Juan Antonio Roca to a judge, Judge Javier de Urquía.[52].
Disqualification of Judge Javier de Urquía
In July 2007 it was published that the Marbella investigating judge Francisco Javier de Urquía. Shortly after, he was suspended "Suspension (punishment)") as a precautionary measure by the General Council of the Judiciary after being charged with prevarication and bribery within the Malaya case. After an appeal of the sentence, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court determined in April 2009 that there was no crime of prevarication and there was bribery. Judge De Urquía was sentenced to 21 months of suspension from office and a fine of €73,800, the minimum sentence contemplated by law.[54].
In May 2010, he was tried again in the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia for bribery and prevarication for allegedly receiving a bribe of 60,000 euros for releasing an accused in the Hidalgo case under investigation.[55] In a trial plagued by irregularities, which included the same sentence, De Urquía was convicted of bribery but appealed the sentence on December 28, 2011, so he returned to judicial activity. despite the intention of the General Council of the Judiciary to disqualify him before the appeal is resolved. In March 2012, finally the Supreme Court "Tribunal Supremo (Spain)") confirmed the sentence imposed by the Superior Court for the crimes of bribery and prevarication, for which he should serve a sentence of two years in prison, 17 years of disqualification and the payment of a fine of €9,000. On March 6, 2012, the General Council of the Judiciary expelled him from the judicial career.[52][56].
Fifth phase
In March 2009, Judge Pérez charged another 16 people with participating in Juan Antonio Roca's plot as front men. In addition, it accuses another 15 people already prosecuted of other crimes.[57][58].