Spectre of facing Spanish fraud trial: Sean Connery's wife accused of 5.5 million pound property tax swindle
Sean Connery's wife has been ordered to stand trial over an alleged multi-million pound tax fraud.
State prosecutors want French-born Micheline Roquebrune jailed for two and a half years and fined more than £16 million if found guilty.
A judge in Marbella made his trial decision after a long-running investigation into the 1999 sale of the home Sir Sean, 85, and his artist wife owned in the Costa del Sol resort.
Spanish prosecutors want to prosecute Sir Sean Connery's second wife Micheline Roquebrune, left, over an alleged multi-million pound tax fraud involving the sale and redevelopment of the couple's Marbella mansion
The former 007 star's Marbella mansion, pictured, was demolished and redeveloped into luxury flats [pictured below ] after Sir Sean and his wife sold it in 1999. Spanish prosecutors claim Ms Roquebrune defrauded the Spanish treasury.
The apartments were sold by a property company called by the sea
The investigation, dubbed Goldfinger, after the 1964 Bond movie, found that Connery has no case to answer.
The former 007 was investigated over the same case but told he would not face trial at the start of last year.
Investigating magistrate Alfredo Mondeja decided to shelve his probe into the retired Scots actor after receiving a 56-page affidavit from him denying any wrongdoing.
But he labelled the former 007 'obstructive and ignorant' as he announced his decision to eliminate him from his inquiry - dubbed Goldfinger after the famous 1964 James Bond film he starred in
He said at the same time he was continuing his investigation against Sir Sean's wife - who has now been charged - over alleged irregularities in the sale of the couple's former home called Casa Malibu.
A rogatory letter will now be sent to the Bahamas where the couple live informing Micheline of the court decision and ordering her to appoint a defence lawyer.
A date for the trial, which will take place at a criminal court in Malaga, has yet to be set.
State prosecutors formally accused Sir Sean's wife of being accomplice to an alleged tax fraud in an indictment earlier this year.
They say she aided and abetted a complex operation to defraud the Spanish Treasury of nearly £5.5 million in 2006 through a Spanish company called By The Sea.
The fine they are seeking for her is three times the amount they allege was defrauded.
Th official statement issued last Friday by the Spanish Judiciary.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Marbella Instruction 1 trial opens against women Sean Connery for a crime against public finances
The judge agreed to send letters rogatory to the Bahamas to notify the resolution
Author
Communication Judiciary
The head of the Court of Instruction No. 1 of Marbella (Malaga) has agreed to open trial for the woman Sean Connery for the possible commission of a crime against the Treasury. In the order, the judge required the defendant to pay a deposit of 10.2 million euros to cover the possible liability and notes that this resolution must be notified through a letter rogatory to the Bahamas home the accused, within six months.
a rare appearance by the movie legend at the 2015 US open in Sept.
This decision comes after the Anti-Corruption, the State Bar and the city of Marbella prosecutor requested the opening of oral proceedings in this separate "Goldfinger case" in which the urban operation linked to a plot was being investigated piece in which the chalet was Connery marriage.
The judge agrees to go to the International Legal Aid to effect service of the order through a letter rogatory to the Bahamas, where the defendant has his residence, for giving "a reasonable period of six months." If the letter rogatory is not executed within this period shall automatically expire and continue the process, "without prejudice to the prosecution to issue to report on the appropriateness of issuing arrest warrants internationally".
The car picks up the provisional ratings of the charges which the public prosecutor and the city of Marbella request two and a half years in prison as a necessary cooperator of a crime against the Treasury, committed using a company which, according to the prosecutor, defrauded 7.6 million euros. In this regard, it calls for the imposition of a fine of 23 million euros. For its part, the law of the State requested six months imprisonment and a fine of 7.6 million euros, the amount of allegedly defrauded the total.
Spanish prosecutors dropped proceedings against Sir Sean after he submitted a 56-page affidavit
Ms Roquebrune [pictured above in 90's at the villa in Marbella] is accused of working with other defendants including lawyers and businessmen to hide the profits from the 1999 sale from the taxman using 'fictitious legal transactions'
Prison sentences for first-time offenders are normally only suspended if they are two years or less, raising the real prospect Sir Sean's wife will do time if she is convicted and sentenced in line with the state prosecution demand.
Prosecutors allege Micheline collaborated with other lawyers and businessmen charged in the Goldfinger case to formalise 'fictitious legal transactions' so profits obtained during the sale of Casa Malibu could be hidden from the taxman.
It was sold in 1999 and subsequently demolished.More than 70 flats, later sold for an estimated £45 million, were built in its place despite planning regulations stipulating only five flats could be built there.
even today ,resale of the apartments go for a million euros upwards, [ £705,000 /$1,059,250 ]
The long-running judicial probe into the deal will reach open court in January when 16 defendants including a former corrupt mayor of Marbella and two lawyers, go on trial.
Prosecutors want the alleged wrongdoers sentenced to a total of 156 years in prison if they are found guilty of crimes including tax fraud and receiving bribes
Interior of Connery's Villa Mallibu before it was demolished, to make way for luxury apartments.
Developers built more than 70 flats which sold for an estimated £45 million on the site of Sir Sean's former home, pictured, even though the original planning agreement granted permission for five apartments
Developers built more than 70 flats which sold for an estimated £45 million on the site of Sir Sean's former home, pictured, even though the original planning agreement granted permission for five apartments
Former Marbella mayor Julian Munoz and ex-town planning chief Juan Antonio Roca, two of those set to stand trial, are already serving prison sentences for separate corruption convictions.
Micheline Roquebrune's trial will take place separately because the last part of the probe into her alleged wrongdoing has been conducted as a separate investigation.
A prosecutor acting on behalf of Marbella Town Hall and a specialist prosecutor who pursues crimes against the state will also take the stand against her as well as the standard state prosecutor.
The town hall prosecutor is calling for the same punishment for Sir Sean's wife as the normal state prosecutor.
The specialist prosecutor is demanding a six-month prison sentence.
Investigating judge Alfredo Mondeja blasted Sir Sean and his wife early last year over delays in the case when he announced he was taking no further action against the Scots actor but would continue to probe Micheline.
He announced his decision after receiving an affidavit from Sir Sean more than a year and a half after it was completed - and two and a half years after investigators sent an international 'letter of request' to the Bahamas with questions for them.
Spanish prosecutors accused Sir Sean, left, of 'legal ignorance' in his dealing with the investigation team
Accusing Sir Sean of 'legal ignorance', he said: 'Although the delays may have harmed the progress of the case, it's also true that if the suspects had observed the proper rules of conduct, namely a minimum level of cooperation with the judicial authorities, the fate of those suspects would have been clarified more than two years ago.'
Describing the delays as incomprehensible, he added: 'Perhaps it would lead one to think that the idea was to protect or hide the acts or participation of the actor's wife, something that only harmed Sir Sean himself.'
And recalling reports around the time Sir Sean was first named in the probe that it had cost him a lucrative publicity contract, he claimed: 'Such damage, if it existed, is largely down to the suspects' own slackness, a slackness that could even be described as showing little respect towards the work of the Spanish judicial system.'
A leaked copy of Sir Sean's affidavit was published in a respected Spanish Sur newspaper shortly before Mr Mondeja announced his decision.
It showed the retired actor had been asked in a probing legal document if he had any relationship with convicted criminals and was quizzed about his personal finances including possible offshore accounts in the Bahamas.
He denied any links to corrupt town hall officials in Marbella who are now serving prison sentences and any involvement in firms linked to the alleged multi-million fraud relating to the property deal involving Sir Sean's former home.
[ He denies everything, even the contents of a contract that bears his signature but is written in Spanish, a language that ensures ignore. It is not known if at the moment to answer the British actor raised an eyebrow in one of the characteristic gestures of the characters that gave celebrity, but the affidavit by Sean Connery notarized in the Bahamas that is already held Marbella where the court instructed the 'case Goldfinger' is a negative sum of any responsibility for urban operations and alleged tax fraud under investigation in the case, open from the sale of his former residence in Marbella, Malibu and the signing of a subsequent agreement in which they have been harmed the interests of the City.
"I did not keep relationship with Gil ',' I do not know Juan Antonio Roca," "I do not know him, nor therefore have maintained or maintain a relationship with Julian Felipe Muñoz Palomo" are some of the answers given by Connery, later you were read notary to affix his signature to the document, which occupies 56 pages and has had SUR access. However, the most startling claim is included in the header of the declaration, where after stating that his Spanish lawyer's office -the Bastién Diaz, whose leaders are also accused in the cause-had informed him that he has been "identified as part of criminal process in Spain ", he says making the statement voluntarily and in order to cooperate and expedite the investigation, though she says:" Without in any way submit to the jurisdiction of the Spanish court or admit the validity "of the request judicial assistance issued by the Spanish authorities in the Bahamas.
In the statement, the actor says it has nothing to do with the signing of the agreements under investigation in the operation 'Goldfinger' and know its contents, just ignore the holding companies owned by Juan Antonio Roca why he asks.
On his relationship with Jesus Gil says, "I think I saw him at a public event, I do not consider that to be defined as I knew him. I did not keep any relationship with him. In the 90s I urged my lawyer Hector Diaz-Bastien legally call upon the Gil Lord to withdraw the video of the political campaign for reelection as mayor of Marbella containing pictures of me without my consent or authorization were included in that video. The request was complied with. " In that sense, he denies having had dealings with Gil, Rock and Julian Muñoz, and says he was never in offices or Gil in the city of Marbella. It also states: "I have not obtained any advantage in relation to the agreements cited."
Other questions relate to two companies that are linked to agreements investigated and constitute the core of the case. Malibu SA and By the Sea The first holds that departed in the 80s, when it transferred ownership to his wife, and in relation to the second ensures that never had any connection.
It also rejects you made urban operations in Marbella and one of the questions have been answered denying the Land Registry and have given gifts to their employees. It also ensures that no income or capital gains earned in the operations under investigation in the case
Regarding the possible tax fraud says it has no tax obligations in Spain, and also denies being entitled companies in Manx, Uruguay, Panama and the Netherlands, countries that aims the investigation into alleged money laundering.
The statement was delivered to the investigating judge on 21 January, almost two years after the appearance of the actor in a notary Bahamas, where he was presented the February 21, 2012 assisted by two lawyers, one British and one Spanish. This delay, which appears to be a delaying tactic and that the letter rogatory was issued in December 2010 with a term of six months, prompting the trial judge noted in a car surprised by a situation that considers inexplicable. It was not until September 3, 2013, after the declaration made when the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs of Bahamas sent the document to the court in Marbella, according to a document that SUR also had access.]
Michelle Roquebrune, Sir Sean's second wife, has previously claimed when allegations of money laundering first surfaced at the start of the Goldfinger judicial probe: 'These allegations of money-laundering are nonsense.
'We have nothing to do with this. We sold the property and that is it.'
Diaz-Bastian & Truan, Sir Sean's lawyers at the time of the Marbella property deal, have repeatedly refused to respond to emails sent to their offices in the Costa del Sol resort and Madrid asking them for a comment.
Further Reading
Spectre of facing Spanish fraud trial: Sean Connery's wife accused of £5.5 million property tax swindle
Elon Musk's Tesla Power Wall and German Manufacturers of renewable energy ,battle over battery-powered homes
Autumn Statement: Buy-to-let homes face higher stamp duty
Hatched By Russell Quirk CEO emoov Online Estate Agency how the online estate agency Industry is playing out
More buy-to-let landlords searching for mortgages on cheaper properties + housing market shows no sign of slowing down winter months
Bad Debt in Emerging Markets: Still Early Days IMF
Spectre behind the scences filming all you need to know
CML and Which? reveal new mortgage tariff to help consumers compare fees and charges
Housing and Planning Bill Committee Thursday 19 November 2015 Meeting CML mortgage news
Britain building again as new homes rise by a quarter
UK House Price Index September 2015
Bank of England dampens prospects of early UK rate rise >Raising interest rates to deal with housing market problems would hit the rest of the economy too hard
New right-to-buy boom: 1,000 people a week signing up to housing association sell-off ahead of launch of new scheme
Osborne says tougher buy-to-let regulation on its way
Government launches National Infrastructure Commission to get Britain building
Draw up plans to build more homes in two years... or we'll do it for you: PM's threat to reluctant town halls
countrywide PLC sees a direct threat from online real estate agents like for like ?
Almost twice as many brits believe that property makes better use of cash then isa , pensions stock , shares ,premium bonds
Mortgage advances pick up in the third quarter says CML
Property shortages keep driving up house prices, say experts
Historic Housing and Planning Bill will transform generation rent into generation buy
TfL releases land for 10,000 homes across the Capital
Boris tells planners & developers to put culture first for city development
House Prices will continue to rise & construction of more not the answer
Taylor Wimpey CEO Peter Redfern will lead Labour Housing Redfern Review
London real estate most overpriced property globally, warns UBS
House Prices ,Mortgage applications , interest rates house building update
Sadiq Khan Housing Crisis Update Fair rental prices
How low can you go ? speech by Andy Haldane BoE Chief Economist
London’s housing crisis > Blue and Red debates @ London Mayor Question Time
reaching more people with our property fraud advice Land Registry
Bank of England concerns over Property buy-to-let boom
Britain Inflation and housing: joined at the hip
The European Union, monetary and financial stability, and the Bank of England - speech by Mark Carney
Zac Goldsmith: housing crisis number one priority in London – what needs to be done
TfL could help fix London’s housing Crisis as well as our trains
A question from Matthew > PMQs Jeremy Corbyn MP vs The Prime Minister David Cameron
Labour conference: Sadiq Khan >"I'm going to make the election a referendum on London's housing crisis"
Newly Elected Labour Candidate, for Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, outlines his Housing Policies
What Jeremy Corbyn's leadership victory may mean for housing policy in the UK
Marie's Question >Jeremy Corbyn The New Labour Leader takes his seat in the Houses of Parliament
Building Markets for the Good of People > BoE Open Forum
Government ministers and housing association leaders have negotiated a deal to extend the right-to-buy policy
Historic Housing and Planning Bill will transform generation rent into generation buy
How low can you go ? speech by Andy Haldane BoE Chief Economist
Three Truths about Finance - Governor of BoE - Mark Carney
Mortgage Lenders and Administrators statistics Bank of England Sept 2015
Osborne says tougher buy-to-let regulation on its way
House Prices will continue to rise & construction of more not the answer
Right To Buy Homes Urgent Parliament questions with Brandon Lewis UK housing Minster
Borrowing figures in the mortgage market remain strong as customers take advantage of record low interest rates
property eCommerce is booming !
Residential sales Move up despite lack of property Stock
Government ministers and housing association leaders have negotiated a deal to extend the right-to-buy policy
Comments
Post a Comment