Over 100 horses confiscated in Marbella and Madrid…

The Mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yagüe, has been arrested in a large scale police operation against alleged corruption at the Town Hall.

Apart from the Mayor there have been a total of 23 arrests, including Juan Antonio Roca, who is the town planning assessor and headed the department during the era of Jesús Gil.

Police agents moved into to evacuate workers from the municipal buildings and have been spending the time search the offices and removing documents. Both uniformed and plain-clothed police, more than twenty in number, arrived at the Mayor’s home in Calle Florida and got her out of bed where she was recovering from a liposuction.

On Thursday, the mayor herself was taken to the main National Police station in Málaga where she was questioned.

Six people have also been arrested in a lawyers office in Madrid which is allegedly linked to real estate developments in Marbella. Reports say that more than one thousand bank accounts have been frozen, over 100 horses confiscated in Malaga and Madrid, a helicopter and 275 works of art confiscated.

The police operation is named ‘Malaya’ and National Police say that they are trying to clear up what they describe as a complex situation between municipal and other companies who are believed to be involved in numerous criminal activities.

According to a press release from the National Police today, investigations in the case started in November 2005 with a joint approach from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor and the Magistrate Miguel Ángel Torres. Among the crimes being mentioned are the mis-use of public funds, fraud, corruption and what is described as the altering of the price of services and it seems there are links in the case to the provinces of Huelva, Murcia and Cádiz.