2
CRIME
www.gibraltarolivepress.com
NEWS IN BRIEF Terror concerns THE UK foreign office (FCO) last week updated its website warning tourists about the ‘likely’ threat of terror attacks in Spain’.
Notes no more THE Bank of Spain will no longer issue €500 notes from Sunday, amid concerns that they facilitate corruption and finance terrorism.
Corrupt cop DISGRACED former national police chief and owner of Estepona’s Cenyt hospital, Jose Manuel Villarejo, amassed €20 million through corruption, officials have revealed.
Buzz off LEADING news organisation Buzzfeed Spain has folded following hundreds of shock job cuts across the global digital platform.
January 30th - February 12th 2019
Drug link to mystery shooting
Time’s up for Goldfinger crooks By Gerard Couzens, in Madrid
HALF a dozen British timeshare touts have been on trial over links to the infamous John Palmer crime empire. Palmer, aka ‘Goldfinger’s, alleged right-hand man Richard Cashman, 52, is accused of fraud, money laundering and criminal association. Five other Brits, including Palmer's nephew Darren Morris, are also standing trial at the Audiencia Nacional, in Madrid, - nearly 20 years after Palmer was jailed by the Old Bailey for fraud. His wife Christina Ketley, 58, however, was acquitted from the case on the first day, due to a technicality. She left court without making any comment with the couple's son James, 28, who was working out at his dad's gym in June 2015 when 1983 Brink's Mat gold smelter Palmer, 65, was shot six times by a mystery assassin in the back garden of his Essex mansion. At the time lead investigator DCI Stephen Jennings linked the Madrid trial to the murder which happened shortly after Palmer was charged in Spain.
Boss of Linekers, Portside and Tibu ‘had links’ to Irish mafia A POPULAR businessman gunned down outside his Marbella home may have been a ‘key player’ in an Irish drugs empire. Marco Yaqout, who owned a string of nightclubs, including Tibu, Portside and Linekers, had ties to Irish gangsters the Kinahan clan, it has been claimed. The Spanish/Moroccan businessman was shot 20 times as he arrived home in his Bentley in San Pedro. It comes despite friends telling the Olive Press they were
stunned by the sudden murder and could not fathom why the ‘much-loved businessman’ would have been a mafia target. One, who attended a wake at his home at the weekend with up to 500 people, said: “None of us were aware of any feuds he was involved in, it seems utterly senseless. “That said there are 20 different theories and it is impossible to rule out he was involved in something.” According to respected Belgian website boevennieuws.pro, Yaqout, 49, was involved in the
Dirty drone dozen A TEAM of talented drone pilots helped a drug trafficking ring smuggle six tonnes of hashish into Spain from Morocco. Two of the 12-strong gang were experts in the use of drones and had been using the unmanned aircraft to check if the coasts were clear of police. The gang, made up of Spaniards, including two women, would then send in the RHIB boats loaded with hashish into Almeria, Malaga and Cadiz. The group, based out of the Campo de Gibraltar, brought more than six tonnes into Spain over two months, police confirmed.
SLAIN: Marco movement of cocaine for clients along the Costa del Sol. The site claimed: “With his excellent contacts in South America and his ideal position among the jet set, including wealthy Arabs, Marco was in a key position.” A journalist from the site told the Olive Press: “We have multiple sources in Spain, Morocco and the Netherlands. “This information is mostly from Dutch Moroccans who spent a lot of time in the area, specifically in Puerto Banus.” Irish newspaper Sunday World also reported his close links to the Kinahans (inset above). Yaqout owned several bars and nightclubs in the upmarket resort, and co-owned popular Linekers, named after founder Wayne Lineker, brother to England ace Gary Lineker. The investigation continues.
Supergrass
It was believed he was shot as he was about to turn ‘supergrass’ before the Madrid trial. Shortly before he was jailed in the UK, Palmer's Canary Islands empire came under attack from former associates-turnedrivals including British boxer Dennis New and Lebanese-born Mohamed Derbah, who was arrested and investigated but never charged. The fraud and money laundering allegations relate to the years 1993 to 2002. The accomplices swindled at least 16,000 Brits, many pensioners, out of cash although the Spanish case centres on 234 complainants allegedly defrauded out of millions. Cashman insisted he played no role in the timeshare part of Palmer's business empire after moving to Tenerife in 1993 and was a bodyguard later given cheque-signing powers after earning the former market trader's trust. The defendants are accused of defrauding victims out of cash through schemes including non-existent timeshares and fake 'holiday club' discounts. Palmer's nephew is also facing an additional two and a half year prison demand on an illegal firearms possession charge.
902 123 282 * F u l l y
c o m p r e h e n s i v e
TheOlivePress-256x170-CAREmergencia.indd 1
o f f e r
v a l i d
f o r
TM
n e w
c u s t o m e r s
o n l y .
S u b j e c t
t o
c o n d i t i o n s .
E n d s
2 8 / 0 2 / 1 9 .
10/1/19 12:43