Tom Ewart Smith
A POLICIA Nacional inspector has accused the stepson and late husband of Marbella’s mayor of laundering more than €7 million of suspected drug money, as part of a ‘Swedish mafia’ network operating on the Costa del Sol.
The claims came during testimony this week in Spain’s National Court, where 24 people – including Swedes, Poles, Spaniards and other nationals – are being tried over their alleged involvement in an international drugs and money laundering organisation.
At the centre of the case is Joakim Peter Broberg, the Swedish stepson of Angeles Muñoz, Marbella’s long-serving mayor.
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Prosecutors have requested 18 years in prison and a €30 million fine for Broberg, who is accused of heading the ‘Swedish network’ that smuggled cannabis and hashish from Morocco into Spain and on to France and Sweden.
His late father, Lars Gunnar Broberg, is also alleged to have played a key role in the operation.
Testifying under oath, a senior police inspector stated that six separate laundering operations worth €7.3 million had been traced to Broberg and his associates.
In three of the transactions, which amounted to €6.4 million, she said Lars Broberg was personally involved.
“Lars Broberg had significant control over the operations they were carrying out,” the investigator told the court.
One of the key laundering schemes described involved the purchase of a luxury villa in Vega del Jaque, Benahavis, using nearly €3 million in cash and routed through a Gibraltar-based company.
“It was done with a large amount of cash, which shows they had easy access to large sums of money,” the inspector added.
She also described how money was funnelled through tax havens, including Bermuda, Montenegro and the British Virgin Islands.
Broberg, she said, had no reported income in Spain yet was linked to 19 inactive companies, most of them based out of an office in a Marbella shopping centre that also served as the address for many of his father’s businesses.
The inspector described a sophisticated operation in which dodgy funds were used to buy land, build villas and sell them on, often with the full knowledge and participation of Lars Broberg.
During one of the property raids, she said officers were ‘stunned by the high standard of living’ enjoyed by the suspects.
While 11 of the 24 defendants have already struck plea deals with prosecutors, Joakim Broberg continues to deny the charges as the trial continues.
