Laundering 60 million euros through 800 fake companies.

Laundering 60 million euros through 800 fake companies.
These are the findings as the three year Marbella accounting and tax evasion investigation came to an end last week.
In total, 20 people – including three notaries – are now facing charges over the investigation which centred around the Cordoba legal firm of Rafael Cruz-Conde.
Both the boss and his son Mauro, have already been jailed for failing to pay 410,000 euros of income tax.
Another four lawyers from the firm are also facing charges that surround various shady dealings of the hotels Marbella Club and the Puente Romano.
According to the judge investigating the case, the owner of the hotels David Shamoon was found to have laundered 52.4 million euros through the firm.
This included 21 million euros of unpaid taxes between 2001 and 2005.
Shamoon, who owns various other properties on the Costa del Sol, as well as in the UK, Israel and the USA, was also accused of trying to bribe a judge presiding over the case.
It later emerged that Judge Francisco Javier de Urquia, who had initially taken on the Hidalgo case, had also tried to blackmail Shamoon. He was jailed for the offence.
During Operation Hidalgo, which started in April 2007, 632 bank accounts were frozen while police investigated numerous counts of money-laundering.