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€3 million fraud NINE people have been chosen out of nearly 400 people summoned by a Gibraltar court for jury service as a £3 million fraud case. Gillian Balban, 51, of Bayview Terrace is facing four counts of fraud by abuse of position dating back to 2011 and 2012. Prosecutors also charged the former Natwest Gibraltar employee with two more counts of false accounting that occurred between 2012 and 2017 and one newly introduced count of fraud by false representation. Her trial is expected to last six weeks and cover evidence by 50 witnesses. The high number of witnesses is the reason so many people were summoned for potential jury service. They had to complete a questionnaire on whether they knew any witnesses or family members involved in the case or had any links to Natwest or the Financial Services Commission. The Royal Gibraltar Police carried out a lengthy investigation into Balban who by that time had moved on to become area manager for Royal Bank of Scotland. She allegedly committed the fraud with Euro notes and credited cheques to her own personal bank account. The almost 400 people summoned for jury service is the largest number since the Marrache trial a decade ago.
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BRITISH and European Union negotiators have started round 16 of EU treaty negotiations in Brussels over Gibraltar’s post-Brexit future. “This is a technical round with officials representing the European Union and the United Kingdom, together with Gibraltar,” a government spokesman confirmed. The talks started yesterday and will finish tomorrow (Thursday). Attorney General Michael Llamas (below) and Gibraltar House director Daniel D’Amato presented the Rock’s perspective at the latest talks in the Belgian capital. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo recently forecast that he believed the talks would end in the first six months of 2024.
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A step closer While no official information on the obstacles to an agreement have yet been disclosed, the airport’s joint use has appeared to be a major bone of contention. It follows opposing statements on it by British, Spanish and Gibraltarian political leaders. Spain’s Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said it had to be part of the four-year primary deal while Picardo said it was optional. Albares has frequently claimed that Spain has presented London with ‘an agreement that is generous, balanced and good for Gibraltar and the Campo’. Last Friday, he encouraged the
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UK at a New Economic Forum event to ‘soon’ take the ‘brave’ step to seal the deal. Such an agreement would ensure ‘there is a free movement of people and a free movement of goods’, he said. Opinion Page 6
Drawn a blank No trace of sailor Simon Parkes found in latest dig to find clues A TEAM of eight UK police officers have found no trace of sailor Simon Parkes who disappeared in Gibraltar 37 years ago. The 18-year-old radio operator never got back onboard the HMS Illustrious after going ashore on December 12, 1986. A huge manhunt that followed and other potential digs since have failed to find Parkes, leaving his long-suffering parents without any hope of finally putting their mind to rest. Hampshire Police led the latest dig at an area between Town Range car park and Rock on the Rock club. The force said it was disappointed not to find any significant evidence on Parkes’ demise. "The team has processed more than 12 tonnes of material in the
By John Culatto
underground water tank that has been sealed for some time," Det Ch Insp Adam Edwards. “The conditions were hot, damp and filthy... At least two tonnes of material has been brought up to the surface for sieving and fingertip examination.” Officers had been following a new line of inquiry that they thought might shed some light on what happened that fateful night. The case was reopened in 2001 after a shipmate, petty officer Allan Grimson, was convicted of two murders. Grimson has denied involvement in Mr Parkes' death but confessed to the murders of 18-year-old Nicholas Wright and 20-year-old Sion Jenkins. Both murders took place one year apart in 1997 and 1998 - on December 12 - the EXACT same date that Parkes disappeared in 1986. Information that came to light during research for a book on the subject by GBC journalist THE SEARCH: Hampshire police investigate
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VICTIM: Simon Parkes (above) and suspect Allan Grimson
Ros Astengo is thought to have given police a new lead to solve the mystery. The southern England force was backed up by the Royal Gibraltar Police, Ministry of Defence and Isle of Wight Constabulary. The victim’s mother Margaret Parkes had said that every search made her ‘hopeful’ but that she knows she ‘can’t put much into it’. It followed a small excavation of the Town Range car park in August last year that was just as fruitless about the tragic sailor’s disappearance. Other digs in the past have focused on Trafalgar Cemetery, South Barrack Road and Rosia Lane. Parkes left the Horseshoe bar saying he was going to get something to eat in December 1986. Witnesses reported seeing someone fitting his description drunk at the Hole in the Wall pub.
Parkes’ parents David and Margaret last heard from their son when they had arranged over telephone to meet him in Portsmouth when his ship arrived on December 18 But their son never made it home. Margaret and David Parkes said they would ‘never give up hope of finding him’. Both the Hampshire Police and the local force have appealed for anyone with any further information on his whereabouts to come forward.