Rob Horgan
THE nine councillors accused of shady dealings with Eastern Europe’s biggest gangsters are demanding the case is thrown out of court.
Incredibly the judge has postponed the Majestic trial until March 2017, just a day into proceedings at Malaga’s provincial court.
Accused of money laundering and breaking urban planning regulations, the defence for all nine defendants – including former Casares mayor Juan Sanchez – has called on the courts to spike the case.
He claims that evidence presented by the prosecutor in opening statements had not been listed before the start of the trial and that it is based on hearsay, not facts.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has rejected the defence’s claims, saying that the defence ‘knew absolutely all the evidence’ prior to the start of the trail.
The prosecutor is seeking an 18-year prison sentence and fine of €1.2 million for Sanchez over permission he granted for the illegal Majestic residential estate built between 2000 and 2005.
It comes after he was linked to Polish mob boss Ricardo Fanchini and his cohorts, Armenians Robert Mani and Robert Gaspar, who are also accused of money laundering.
Eight other town hall workers are facing prison over a scheme that saw money laundered into the Majestic project via radio and TV stations and the Mijas hippodrome.
