Julian Muñoz
A former waiter, Muñoz – nicknamed ‘Cachuli’ or ‘chancer’ – successfully rose from nothing to become the mayor of Marbella in little more than a decade. As the boyfriend of the famous singer Isabel Pantoja, his face has frequently appeared in gossip magazines throughout Spain. During his short term of office he publicly fell out with Roca who had him ousted as mayor. And he has now spent more than two years in prison and faces 10 more on charges of perverting the course of justice, embezzlement and bribery.
Marisol Yague
A former singer, Yague was appointed as mayor by Roca following a vote of no confidence against Muñoz in 2003. According to investigators she was Roca’s puppet, visiting him at his offices on mondays to receive instructions and she allegedly took 1.8m euros in bribes.
Isabel Garcia Marcos
The former deputy mayor, García Marcos was ironically a one-time socialist councillor and ferocious critic of corruption in Marbella. She eventually became one of Roca’s favourite councillors however and was caught saying “I don’t sign a piece of paper, or even read one,
if I don’t get money”. Police found 360,000 euros at her home when she was arrested
in 2003.
Rafael Gómez Sanchez, aka ‘Sandokán’
Owner of Arenal 2000, Sandokán is one of the many builders involved in the case. He made alleged payments of up 600,000 euros in exchange for ‘urban favours’. He was also Roca’s partner in the company, Marbella Airways.
Isabel Pantoja
Famous singer and ex-girlfriend of Julián Muñoz, Pantoja is being charged in a separate case and faces a 3.7m euro fine and three years in prison, for helping Muñoz launder the money he
received in bribes. The star is also accused of obtaining large sums of money during her relationship with the former mayor.
Judge Javier de Urquia
The young judge, 29, is understood to have received payments of 63,000 and 10,800 euros from Roca. Urquia has also been accused of bribery in the Hidalgo fraud case that centred on the Marbella-based lawyers Cruz Conde.
Montserrat Corulla
Nicknamed the Lady of Marbella, the Catalan lawyer is accused of being one of the main stooges for Roca. It is thought she was in charge of Roca’s investments and under his supervision became responsible for the alleged money laundering in Madrid and Marbella.
Pedro Tomás Reñones Grego
Tomas is a retired footballer who once captained Atletico Madrid. He became a councillor in Marbella in 1999 for the Grupo Independiente Liberal (GIL), founded by long-time Atletico president, Jesus Gil y Gil. After the local mayor was arrested he briefly took office in 2006 as an interim mayor, but was soon after arrested himself. He is now facing 15 years in prison.
José Avila Rojas
Born in Granada Ávila Rojas is another of the many contractors involved in the case. He faces 10 years imprisonment and fines amounting to 55 million euros.
Tomás Olivo López
Among his many projects, the business mogul owns a number of shopping centres including ‘La Cañada’ in Marbella. He is facing five years imprisonment and fines of up to 4.8 million euros.
Expats caught in the web
It’s not just the Spaniards that got caught up in this huge operation.
A total of 11 foreigners were also embroiled in the scandal and must now face their day in court.
These include, the German countess Alexandra Sybilla Sofie Grafin Von Bismark, Roca’s employee, Swedish born Karin Marika Mattson, Sergio Gilbert Garcia, born in Gibraltar, and Salvador Gardoqui Arias from France who is known to be one of Roca’s front-men.