nine of the eleven people charged with being part of a money laundering network based in Marbella not guilty because of a lack of evidence

Málaga Provincial Court has found nine of the eleven people charged with being part of a money laundering network based in Marbella not guilty because of a lack of evidence. The court however spoke of ‘many suspicions’ on the possible illicit origin of the money.The prosecution alleged that the group offered their money laundering services to delinquents from different countries, most of them drug traffickers. The group allegedly used a bureau de change and pounds sterling along with a network of companies including a car rental firm to launder the money.The state prosecutor’s office contended that 62.2 million € had been laundering between the years 2000 and 2004 by the group.The court found only one man, a Spaniard, guilty of money laundering, describing him as the head of the gang. He and an Ecuadorian woman were each sent to prison for three years, three months and fined more than 700,000 €.The anti-drug prosecutor in Málaga has launched an appeal against the decision to find the other nine charged not guilty.