Entrance to the headquarters of the National Court, in Madrid, in a file image.GUSTAVO VALIENTE (EUROPA PRESS VIA GETTY IMAGES)
The Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office requests 22 years in prison for Joakim Peter Broberg, the stepson of Ángeles Muñoz, mayor of Marbella (Malaga) for the PP.
The public ministry places him at the top of one of the factions that made up a complex “criminal organization” dedicated to marijuana and hashish trafficking, investigated by the National Court and in which Lars Gunnar Sune Broberg was also implicated in money laundering operations. , the councilor's deceased husband.
“Joakim Peter Broberg serves as head
and is in charge of maintaining contacts with suppliers and clients,” the Prosecutor's Office emphasizes in its indictment, dated October 5 and to which EL PAÍS has had access.
Antidrug describes an intricate plot made up mainly of Swedish citizens, with tentacles in Spain and other countries.
And where the stepson played a prominent role.
According to the public ministry, Joakim Broberg participated in marijuana deliveries from Spain to France, and had a group of collaborators to execute his plans outside the law.
“Joakim maintained contacts with different suppliers of substances – such as the one known by the alias
Canaryegg
on [the encrypted messaging system] EncroChat – in order to obtain supplies of substances from Morocco that would arrive by ship to Spain.”
Anti-drug adds that he formed an authentic “criminal group”, that he established “contacts” with members of other drug networks, and that he had a “manager and financier” (Marko Mikael Holmen) of the drug trafficking operations.
“Holmen guards the money of Joakim Broberg, who asks him for cash when he needs it.
Even to pay for his children's school fees,” states the indictment, which insists that his father—the mayor's deceased husband—participated in the complex laundering operations allegedly concocted to launder the money from the crime. .
The public ministry, which reveals a corporate plot with companies in tax havens, also puts under suspicion various real estate purchases and sales, and a transaction of 20 kilos of gold that Joakim Broberg received in 2019 as “payment for a debt from Africa.”
From left to right, the photographs of Andres Nilsson, Ivan Cicak and Joakim Broberg, also investigated in this case by the National Court for drug trafficking.
For all these reasons, the Prosecutor's Office attributes to the mayor's stepson a crime of drug trafficking "committed within an organization and holding its leadership," as well as one of money laundering and another of bribery.
He asks that he be sentenced to 22 years in prison and fined more than 30 million euros.
In addition, the public ministry accuses 28 other people.
Among them, Rafael Gallego, an official from the Marbella Local Police.
Anti-drug maintains that he had colluded with the stepson to leak data to him in exchange for money, for which he also attributes the crime of bribery to him - although he requests that this part be sent to the Malaga Court so that it can be tried there by a jury. .
“During the time that Joakim Broberg carries out the activities described, he maintains contacts with Gallego, who provides him with restricted information for exclusively police use, in exchange for cash, and the amount actually obtained cannot be determined, money and information that are exchanged in meetings. personal to leave no trace,” says the indictment.
More information
The Court implicates the husband of the mayor of Marbella in three money laundering operations
Anti-drugs thus inflict a severe blow on Joakim Peter Broberg, born in Gothenburg (Sweden) 51 years ago.
The Criminal Chamber of the National Court already confirmed his prosecution in January 2023, when it concluded that there is enough evidence to put him on the bench - although the trial does not yet have a scheduled date to be held -, in addition to pointing out his father for three laundering operations valued at 6.3 million euros.
At that time, the Prosecutor's Office had already given up filing charges against the mayor's husband because he was in very poor health.
In fact, Lars Gunnar Sune Broberg finally died in March 2023, at the age of 79.
In this summary, the public ministry bases its accusations on the long investigation carried out in the Investigative Court 6 of the National Court, headed by magistrate Manuel García-Castellón.
In his resolutions, the judge also describes the international plot of drug sales and money laundering through shell companies and real estate operations carried out from the city of the Costa del Sol. This criminal network was supposedly made up of “different branches.” .
And, according to the investigations, Joakim Peter Broberg was the “boss” of one of them;
and his father, husband of the mayor of Marbella, helped him launder drug money.
According to legal sources, the accused have had until Tuesday to present their defense briefs.
More information
Narcos, luxury hotels and a 'ferrari': the path that led the police to the stepson of the mayor of Marbella
“In the first half of September 2019, [Joakim and Lars] reached an agreement [with one of their partners, Marko Mikael Holmen] to establish a company to be able to invoice and thus introduce illicit funds into the licit circuit,” he highlighted. García-Castellón when describing one of the suspected money laundering operations, as stated in the indictment issued against both.”
“The figure of Joakim represents a value in business for Holmen, due to his knowledge of the real estate business in the area, and his influence in the city of Marbella,” added the magistrate.
The Criminal Court also had an impact on this, stating that the son maintained “fluid” contacts with other alleged traffickers.
Ángeles Muñoz, mayor of Marbella and former senator of the PP, in December 2022 in the Upper House. Kiko Huesca (EFE)
Macrooperation against drug trafficking
The Brobergs were arrested in 2021 as part of a macro-operation against marijuana and hashish trafficking, which resulted in 71 arrests.
When they were captured, Ángeles Muñoz defended the “honorability” and “professional career” of her husband, a businessman dedicated to the real estate sector.
For her part, the mayor's stepson has described all of these accusations as “unfounded” and “gratuitous.”
Her defense, led by lawyer Sylvia Córdoba in collaboration with lawyer Sergio Nuño Díez de la Lastra, has reiterated her innocence this Tuesday in conversation with EL PAÍS: “Laundering has not been proven, much less drug trafficking. ”insists Córdoba.
The PSOE has tried to use the Broberg cause against Ángeles Muñoz.
A socialist councilor from the Malaga City Council even tried to appear as an accusation at the National Court, but García-Castellón rejected it when he found no evidence against the councilor: “In fact, there is no mention of any public official who, by action or omission, could be related to the aforementioned crimes, nor is there any mention of the existence of any irregular use of public funds.
Nor is it stated in these facts that the Marbella City Council has been used to carry out possible money laundering,” the magistrate stated.
Before Muñoz left the Senate, the socialists also asked the upper house to open a popular file to investigate his assets, arguing that he had “hidden extremely relevant information” from the Cortes Generales and had failed to comply with several principles of his Code of Conduct.
They accused him of “falsifying” data with the “more than likely” objective of “covering up the alleged criminal activities of those closest to him and hiding the illicit enrichment resulting from said activities.”
Despite everything, the Andalusian PP showed her support and she repeated as a candidate in the last municipal elections, when she revalidated the position with an absolute majority.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
Keep reading
I am already a subscriber
_