Gillian Keller
A KEY witness in the Tolo Cursach case has been arrested for falsely accusing police officers.
Known as the ‘madame’, she originally told Judge Penalva that two police officers showed up at her house, stole paperwork and took her down to police HQ in Palma. However, CCTV footage from the station revealed that no such incident took place.
Cursach and his associate Bartolome Sbert, are facing 16 charges, including bribery, extortion, threats, money laundering, homicide, corruption and the possession of firearms. The prosecution accuse Cursach of running the island of Mallorca as his own personal fiefdom, engaging in criminal activity for over four decades.
The courts charged the madame, after her story changed multiple times and had dogged various interviews, with giving false testimony. She also testified against Bartolome Cursach Junior saying he bribed her but in light of recent events, she is considered a compulsive liar.
False testimony carries a sentence of six months to two years in prison. Meanwhile, Cursach’s righthand man Sbert has been released from jail on €500,000 bail. Judge Penalva released a statement in which he warned that ‘any act aimed at coercing, intimidating, attacking or rewarding any witness financially’ could lead to ‘unconditional imprisonment’.
The Judge has again denied Cursach bail, on the grounds that he is still deemed a big flight risk and could put the safety of vital witnesses in danger
