MARBELLA CLUB

National Police operation against a money laundering network linked to alternative nightclubs in Almería province last week has discovered evidence which could prove key in an unsolved murder from September 2006: the death of Italian businessman Giusseppe D’Amico, who was found dead at his home in Pechina. The victim was found tied up with two bullet wounds in his body and had been tortured.Detectives in the money laundering investigation discovered two 9-calibre pistols in one of the property searches which took place, and forensic testing has revealed that one of them was the weapon which was used to kill D’Amico. Both weapons were found in the home of the man believed to the head of the money laundering network, nicknamed José El Francés, in the filters of a Jacuzzi he had installed in a secret room in the house.Giuseppe D’Amico owned a number of bars in Almería province, but had a lengthy criminal record, both in Spain and in Italy. Police suspected that he had led an organised criminal operation in Almería since his arrival there in the 1980s.

Work has started to demolish homes which were constructed illegally on the coast of Cantabria.The first court sentences ordering demolition were issued as long as 15 years ago, declared to be illegal under the ley de costas (coastal law), but it was on Wednesday when the bulldozers finally moved in at two different locations.The most important one is the El Encinar Urbanisation on the beach at La Arena de Arnuero, where 144 homes were built on protected rural woodland, 42 of which are now coming down, all of them corresponding to the second phase of the urbanization.Some twenty owners and locals protested as the bulldozers moved in, carrying placards which read ‘144 families, victims of the construction mafia’.

Young woman is recovering in hospital in Málaga after jumping from a first floor balcony to escape being raped by two friends who were with her in the flat above. It happened in Rincón de la Victoria on Wednesday, where police found her half-naked, sitting on a chair in the street, EFE reports.She told officers that they had all been partying the night before, and that she had jumped from the flat when the two men tried to have sex with her against her will.The two men, reported by police as Italian, now face charges from the courts.

Police in Spain have broken up a drug-trafficking network which used pensioners to smuggle cocaine into the country on board luxury trans-Atlantic cruise liners. The network used women posing as tourists who picked up the drugs in South America, hiding them in their suitcases to hand over them to another network member once the ships docked in Spain.27 kilos of cocaine were found in a cabin on board a trans-Atlantic cruise ship when it docked in port in Cádiz, the Interior Ministry says in a press release. It’s thought the drugs were picked up when the ship docked in Brazil. The cocaine was destined for Cataluña and Ibiza, the Ministry said, while cannabis destined for distribution in Europe, mainly Holland, was also smuggled in to Spain by the network.Nine arrests were made in total, including one of the suspected leaders who was arrested in Lepe, Huelva, while attempting to cross over into Portugal and then escape by plane to Brazil.Police also raided two hydroponic marijuana farms in Barcelona where more than 200 plants were found. That part of the network was led by a man from Holland, police say.

ring leader was street gang member Darnell Bell, from the Lincoln Park gang. Previously in jail for cocaine distribution, this may be a sign that gangs are branching into more sophisticated crimes. Over $9 million was deposited into an account controlled by Bell. This complex scheme resulted in charges to 24 co-conspirators for bank and wire fraud, money laundering and corrupt racketeering activity. They had participants from real estate, title insurance, appraisal and notary public. The field of players and game play worked as follows:Player 1: Located properties that had been on the market for an extended period of time with reduced asking prices. They negotiated an inflated purchase price and submitted false loan applications to support loans that otherwise would never have been approved. In most cases they were for 100% of the purchase price and did not require any capital investment. They included false letters and documents for income and reference verification. Players requested extra funds for property improvements to make the homes handicap accessible. Payout of these funds was requested upon closing to Bell Construction, a bogus construction firm.
Player 2: Buyers agreed to provide their names and credit histories to be used in the mortgage applications. Properties were purchased, however, in the name of the racketeering enterprise. Bell used his gang status to intimidate and recruit players for this role.
Player 3: Real estate appraisers who prepared inflated appraisals to give lenders the impression that the loans would be secured by the value of the properties. Player 4: A licensed real estate broker allowed the enterprise to use his broker’s license to initiate the property purchase. In exchange this person received a monthly payment of $10,000 and a percentage of the real estate commission and broker’s fees.Player 5: An escrow officer and notary republic to assist in closing of fraudulent properties.
Player 6: Certified Public Accountant and registered tax preparers.
Once the properties were closed and funds were paid out for repairs, mortgage payments were never made and the homes fell into foreclosure, creating large financial losses for the lenders. Lenders filed reports of suspicious activity, and upon investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service, it was discovered that none of the properties had any improvements done to them. The maximum penalties faced by those involved include 20 years in jail, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release. FBI Special Agent Keith Slotter commented,”The individuals charged in this indictment have one thing in common: greed. They represent precisely those who have undermined our country’s financial system by perpetuating such egregious schemes. The FBI and our law enforcement partners remain vigilant and will pursue those who engage in this type of criminal activity. The extent to which this group of people went to defraud lenders should also serve as a warning to the public. We urge people to come forward with information of suspicious activities they may encounter when engaged in real estate and mortgage transactions.”