The European parliament’s Petitions Committee, a Spanish government spokesman attracted widespread condemnation for Spain’s failure, over many years,

The European parliament’s Petitions Committee, a Spanish government spokesman attracted widespread condemnation for Spain’s failure, over many years, to act on extensive property scams, affecting British and other buyers of Spanish holiday and retirement homes.In the meeting, Alicia Paz, Director General for Sustainability of Coastal Regions, asserted that the Spanish Coastal Law, implicated in many of the forced expropriations of seaside property, was intended to preserve Spain’s fragile coastal environment. But she failed to explain how such a law could be applied retrospectively, how it could be used to deny basic property rights to Spanish and foreign investors who had bought property on the basis of binding contracts and land registration, and why the expropriations seemed to apply to private householders, but not to hotels and major developments.

Stuart Docherty,handed himself into police months after fleeing to Spain on his brother's passport.

Stuart Docherty, 27, was convicted of murdering 25-year-old Mark Morrison in Crossloan Terrace, Govan, last January. The High Court in Glasgow heard how Docherty handed himself into police months after fleeing to Spain on his brother's passport.
Jailing him for life, judge Lord Turnbull said "mindless violence" had ruined his life and taken another. The court heard how there was a history of "bad blood" between the Docherty and Mr Morrison. On 31 January 2009, Mr Morrison was caught on CCTV cameras carrying a large machete. He then got into an altercation with a group of youths before shouting on Docherty to come out of the pool hall he was in.
At this point Mr Morrison, who no longer had the machete, was stabbed seven times by Docherty and left to die in Crossloan Terrace.Your mindless violence has now ruined your own life. Knife crime is the scourge of society The court was told one of the knife wounds went through the victim's skull and pierced his brain. The fatal blow to his back severed a major artery and caused Mr Morrison to bleed to death.
After the murder Docherty threw the clothes he had been wearing in the River Clyde and flew to Spain on his brother's passport. An international arrest warrant was issued, but Spanish police were unable to trace him. He returned to Scotland a few months later and handed himself into police. Passing sentence, Lord Turnbull said: "This shows the terrible consequences which flow from young men engaging in violence in the streets. "Mark Morrison's death was wholly unnecessary. It brought his life to an end at 25 and brought grief to his family. "Your mindless violence has now ruined your own life. Knife crime is the scourge of society.
"The courts have on four previous occasions tried to bring home to you the danger of carrying a weapon and you have taken no notice."

Spain, at least 21 suspects were detained in last week's police operation

Spain, at least 21 suspects were detained in last week's police operation. (Twenty-five arrests were made in Austria; additional arrests were also made in France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany.) In nearly all cases, those arrested were ethnic Georgians. Suspected mob boss Kakhaber Shushanashvili, an ethnic Georgian, was among those arrested. Operating from Barcelona, Shushanashvili is believed to have run a criminal ring that reached throughout Europe.Speaking about last week's arrests, Spanish attorney Cesar Utrera Molina admits such news is unhelpful to Eastern immigrants in his country."This is news that will not help the reputation of the people who are from [the former Soviet world], but one should not exaggerate the impact it will have on public opinion," Utrera Molina says. "To associate a band of Georgians with all of those from the East is something that I don't think people could easily do -- yet there is certainly a negative dimension."
The apparent prejudice with which many Spaniards view Eastern European immigrants extends, in some cases, to a general ignorance of their nationalities and backgrounds. When news first broke of the arrests on March 15, Western European headlines touted yet another crackdown against the "Russian mafia."RFE/RL's Russian Service correspondent in Madrid, Viktor Cheretsky, says Spanish media continued to refer to the criminals as "Russian mafia," even after it became clear that the ring was composed almost exclusively of ethnic Georgians.Cheretsky says that the media took hours -- and in some cases even days -- to refer to the arrested men as Georgians rather than Russians.Cheretsky says Spanish journalists frequently use "Russian mafia" as a blanket term to describe criminal groups from across the entire former Soviet world."Any [criminal activity] that relates to Bulgaria or Romania or Poland or even Finland are attributed to 'Russia mafia' on many occasions [in the Spanish press]," Cheretsky says. "Imagine, they arrest a Finnish kingpin and they say he's a Russian mobster -- it's absurd. Above all, [criminals from] the former Soviet countries, from the Baltics, Ukraine, and Georgia -- all are called Russian mafia. This of course is not true."Cheretsky lays the blame on "bad journalism.""The police -- and I have good contacts with the police here [in Madrid] -- knew from the beginning that the [latest arrests] did not involve Russians."Immigrants now make up 12 percent of the Spanish population, with one-third coming from Eastern Europe.
Carmen Martin Nunez is a city councilwoman in Santander. She has worked closely with local activists, like Shkurnytska, on immigration issues. Martin Nunez says she rejects the cliche linking Eastern European immigrants with criminality.
"They are all people. This is not about groups," Martin Nunez says. "They have not come as groups; they have come one by one. And each one [brings] his hope to work, to make his life here."But that does not mean the relationship is necessarily trouble-free, she says."Are there criminals that come along with them? Of course. In Spain we also have criminals. But we do not say you are a criminal just for being Spanish."

former owner was a drug kingpin with ties to a violent Mexican drug cartel

with a colorful history is on the auction block -- the former owner was a drug kingpin with ties to a violent Mexican drug cartel. The home is located on 17907 Elk Valley Circle in northwest Harris County. "It has five bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths. It's 8,000 square feet," said Alfredo Perez, a deputy U.S. Marshal. The luxurious home includes a pool, scenic backyard and a lot of notoriety. It all belonged to illegitimate businessman Daron Jones. "The guy that had this house was running a drug smuggling business," said Perez. During a raid a couple of years ago, federal agents found cash that Jones hid from his drug empire. He is accused of smuggling 300 pounds of cocaine to dealers in Alabama and other places across the U.S. "This house was basically bought with drug money, and because of that we seized the house and now we're going to sell it," said Perez. mansion with a colorful history is on the auction block -- the former owner was a drug kingpin with ties to a violent Mexican drug cartel. The home is located on 17907 Elk Valley Circle in northwest Harris County. "It has five bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths. It's 8,000 square feet," said Alfredo Perez, a deputy U.S. Marshal. The luxurious home includes a pool, scenic backyard and a lot of notoriety. It all belonged to illegitimate businessman Daron Jones. "The guy that had this house was running a drug smuggling business," said Perez. During a raid a couple of years ago, federal agents found cash that Jones hid from his drug empire. He is accused of smuggling 300 pounds of cocaine to dealers in Alabama and other places across the U.S. "This house was basically bought with drug money, and because of that we seized the house and now we're going to sell it," said Perez. Online bidding starts at $471,000. Throughout the years, it has been appraised from between $750,000 and $1.7 million. What is not for sale are the items already forfeited, including eight luxury cars, jewelry and one million dollars in drug money. "Whatever profit we make from this sale is going straight into the general fund to help the U.S. government," said Perez. Stripping drug dealers of their property is one of the most effective ways to shut down their operation. "Obviously the hope for the house is for somebody to buy it and take care of it and just be an active part of the community," said Jake Kizer, who lives in the Ponderosa Trails neighborhood. On Wednesday, there is an open house for people who have already place a deposit. The online bidding begins on March 29 and ends on March 31. Jones is serving a 13-year prison sentence.Online bidding starts at $471,000. Throughout the years, it has been appraised from between $750,000 and $1.7 million. What is not for sale are the items already forfeited, including eight luxury cars, jewelry and one million dollars in drug money. "Whatever profit we make from this sale is going straight into the general fund to help the U.S. government," said Perez. Stripping drug dealers of their property is one of the most effective ways to shut down their operation.
"Obviously the hope for the house is for somebody to buy it and take care of it and just be an active part of the community," said Jake Kizer, who lives in the Ponderosa Trails neighborhood. On Wednesday, there is an open house for people who have already place a deposit. The online bidding begins on March 29 and ends on March 31. Jones is serving a 13-year prison sentence.

Spanish bar, called Paparazzi, was just a front for Fatso's real business - importing cocaine, heroin and guns into Ireland and the UK.

Two years ago, Sonia Walsh was living a life of luxury as a gangster's moll on the Costa Del Crime in sunny Spain.
The ex-street trader drove a luxury jeep, owned a plush bar and rubbed shoulders with some of Europe's leading crime lords.
But now Walsh is back living in her parent's cramped corpo flat in north innercity Dublin. Walsh has been living in the second storey flat since splitting with drug lord Mitchell in 2009.
It is a far cry from her life as the wife of a major international drug trafficker. In 2008, she was the proud owner of a luxury villa and a plush bar and restaurant in Puerto Banus on the Costa del Sol.
The Spanish bar, called Paparazzi, wasjust a front for Fatso's real business - importing cocaine, heroin and guns into Ireland and the UK.
EmpireUnlike many gangsters' wives, Walsh played an active role in Fatso's multi-million euro drug importation business.But their criminal empire would turn to dust following a six-month Sunday World investigation.We snapped Mitchell (40) meeting some of Ireland's notorious criminals in Spain, including slain gangster Paddy Doyle, 'Fat' Freddie Thompson and nephews of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch. Following our exposé, Fatso had to sell his home and bar and flee to Amsterdam after being shot in a Spanish nightclub. His marriage to Walsh also came to an end and she moved back to Dublin. A local source said the mum-of-two has been keeping a "low profile". "She has been back in her ma's flat for over a year.
"It's a big come-down for her. Now she has to queue up for her dole like the rest of us. But Sonia's a tough one, she'll survive."Fatso, originally from Summerhill in Dublin, has a long-history of involvement in Ireland's murky criminal underworld.
During the early 90s, Mitchell and his best friend Brian 'The Tosser' Meehan became key members of the drugs gang run by caged godfather John Gilligan. Gardai believe Fatso was involved in the planning of crime reporter Veronica Guerin's murder in 1996.Meehan (44), from Crumlin in South Dublin, was eventually jailed for life for the murder in 1997. But Fatso managed to flee Ireland for Spain as cops closed in on Gilligan's gang. The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) seized his assets in Ireland but he managed to link up with other criminals on the Costa Del Sol to get back into the drug trade. The bald thug developed a close working relationship with Dublin godfather Christy Kinahan, who is one of the biggest drug traffickers in Europe. Mitchell, who earned the nickname Fatso because of his bloated physique, became a central player in a drug importing syndicate, importing drugs directly into Spain.
Irish and British gangs were pooling their financial resources to smuggle drugs worth hundreds of millions into the UK and Ireland.
Mitchell and his business partners were dealing directly with the producers of cocaine, heroin and hash.
Fatso also kept up his ties with Meehan who has continued to direct his criminal empire from behind bars. Blonde Sonia acted as a go-between for Mitchell, who could not return to Ireland because of fears he would be arrested.
Walsh regularly flew back from Spain to visit Meehan in Portlaoise Prison on behalf of her exiled hubby.
Speaking to the Sunday World in 2008, a source said Walsh was fully aware of her husband's activities. But Fatso's drug-dealing empire received a huge blow after he was exposed in the Sunday World in 2008. The thug was shunned by other exiled criminals in Spain after he was photographed setting up drug deals with UK hoods.
Our investigation had exposed hislinks with crime gangs from Liverpool, Manchester and London. In August 2008, the bald thug was shot in the Jardin bar in Puerto Banus after he failed to pay a drug debt to a gang of foreign criminals.
Threat
Fatso was forced to put his bar up for sale and flee to Amsterdam after being told his life was under threat.
However, bad luck continued to stalk Fatso after he moved to Holland. In June, he was arrested by Dutch cops after a high-speed chase through the streets of the city which left pedestrians and cyclists leaping for their lives. While he was being chased by the police, Mitchell threw two handguns, a Glock and a Smith and Wesson, from the car.
In a follow-up search of his apartment, cops found a false passport, a Glock handgun and more than €8,500 in cash. In December, the Dutch public prosecutor had called for Mitchell to be sentenced to 15 months on the weapons, false documents and money laundering counts, with a further four months for dangerous driving.
But instead, in an 11-page ruling, the three-judge court cleared him of all charges except dangerous driving. For that he was ordered to pay €500 and banned from driving for four months. The money-laundering charges were thrown out on a technicality. It was not the first time that Mitchell has found himself on the wrong side of the law in Holland.
In November 2004 he was arrested along with his cousin, Paddy Mitchell, a brother of 'Git' Mitchell, as they were organising a shipment of drugs and guns which were destined for Ireland. The pair was nabbed with ten kilos of cocaine, three kilos of heroin and large quantity of ammunition when cops swooped on an Amsterdam apartment.
The two thugs got a 20 months sentence and it took the Dutch authorities more than a year to establish Mitchell's true identity - he had been using the name Anthony Swanson at the time.

banker escaped death narrowly after gangsters in his vehicle engaged police in a shootout while he was locked in the car’s boot.

banker escaped death narrowly after gangsters in his vehicle engaged police in a shootout while he was locked in the car’s boot.Three carjackers who had seized Mr George Ng’ang’a outside his home in Kinoo, Nairobi, were killed. A fourth gangster fled.Mr Ng’ang’a sustained a fracture on his right leg and a cut on his thumb during the incident near Kabete Police Station, at midnight on Sunday.Police were chasing the car on Waiyaki Way when the driver lost control and crashed into a steel barrier on the roadside.The vehicle rolled several times, causing the boot open and Mr Ng’ang’a was thrown out, about 15 metres away.The gangsters continued to shoot as he lay in the shrubs on the roadside, thus his life was spared.Mr Ng’ang’a works at the I&M Bank on Kenyatta Avenue and is also pastor at the First Born Church in Kinoo.
He had left the city centre at around 9pm, and arrived home at 10.30pm. Before the watchman could open the gate, the gangsters emerged from the darkness.“I had hooted twice and was waiting to drive in once the gate was opened. Suddenly, I saw a man pointing a gun at me,” he said.“Two others forced my doors open. They pulled me out and forced me to lie on the ground.”The banker described the attackers as merciless, saying they stepped on him as he lay on his belly while emptying his pockets.They then threw him back into the car, forcing him to lie on the space between the back and front seats.As one of them drove, the others took the back seat, placing their feet on him as the vehicle sped off.His wife and neighbours had heard the commotion but they were not sure who had been carjacked.

bank manager from Cáceres is missing, along with a million €.

bank manager from Cáceres is missing, along with a million €. The alleged theft took place in the village of Madrigalejo, Cáceres, from the Bancorreos office.
Abel F. has been missing, along with the clients’ money since Thursday last week, and among the 30 accounts which he allegedly raided were many belonging to people who considered the bank manager their friend.20 Minutos reports that he has even taken money from the study fund from his own son. His wife and children remain living in the town.
Bancorreos has placed a denuncia and is attending to those who say money has been removed from their account. They say a mission million € is a lot of money from a village with just 2,000 inhabitants.

Ex President of the Consell de Mallorca, María Antònia Munar, deposited the bail money of 350,000 €

Ex President of the Consell de Mallorca, María Antònia Munar, deposited the bail money of 350,000 € set against her earlier this week by judge Ignacio Lope Sola, in the Maquillaje Case.Her lawyer, Gabriel Garcías, told the press that his client intended to appeal against the bail finance demand made by the judge on Wednesday and against the civil responsibility of 2.6 million € ordered against her in the case.

former Spanish police chief convicted of embezzling the equivalent of euro10 million ($14 million) became a free man Friday after serving 15 years

former Spanish police chief convicted of embezzling the equivalent of euro10 million ($14 million) became a free man Friday after serving 15 years in prison, and immediately faced — and dodged — the question on many Spaniards' minds: where'd he stash the money?Luis Roldan, 66, declined comment on that part of his saga as he left a halfway house where he has served the last five years of his sentence under a furlough program in the northeastern city of Zaragoza."I paid for what I did," said Roldan, who is arguably one of Spain's most unpopular people. He symbolized a period of corruption and greed within the political and financial elite that emerged during Spain's transition to democracy, after the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975."If you will, please do not prolong my lack of freedom," Roldan told a gaggle of reporters, then boarded a municipal bus to go to a small apartment his owns in Zaragoza.Roldan is alleged to have used front men to squirrel away the money he embezzled and invest it in real estate and other property. Spain's tax department has recovered less than 10 percent of the booty, according to the newspaper El Pais.
Roldan was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to 28 years in prison, but got time off for good behavior and for taking courses while in prison. He had spent a few years in prison awaiting trial.His case was part of a wave of corruption scandals that helped bring down then-Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez in elections held in 1996, ending 13 years of Socialist rule.Roldan was the first civilian to lead the Civil Guard, a paramilitary force that falls under the Interior Ministry. He had even been tapped as a possible interior minister, until he resigned in disgrace in 1993 shortly after a newspaper reported he had a hidden fortune. He fled Spain in 1994 only to be nabbed in Laos 10 months later.Luis Roldán, the ex head of the Guardia Civil, will sign his prison release papers today, having spent 15 years inside. It was his corrupt activity which is thought to have been partly responsible for the fall of the Felipe González Government in 1996.

He was originally sentenced to 31 years in prison for bribery, falsification of documents, mis-use of public funds, blackmail and tax crimes. But thanks to legal reforms and a five year reduction in the sentence for good behaviour, his time was reduced to 15 years, ten of which he served in a special wing of the women’s prison in Brieva, Ávila. For the last years of the punishment he was transferred to Zaragoza prison, but he was granted an open policy, which meant that he only had to sleep in prison, working by day as an insurance salesman, until his recent retirement.Now aged 66 life begins again for the man who went missing after diverting money, some 1.7 billion pesetas, away from the special reserve funds, money of which an estimated 10 million € remains whereabouts unknown. He was finally found and arrested in Thailand in 1995, and investigators managed to trace the money to a Swiss bank account, but then lost it after it was transferred to Singapore, a country which refused to collaborate with Spain on the matter.In prison Roldan has also married for a third time, to a Russian bride he met on the Internet. In a newspaper interview recently he claimed not to have made off with a single peseta, but he still owns a luxury flat next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and another property in San Bartolomé in the French Antilles, valued at 3.7 million €.
Speaking on the morning of his release Roldán said he did not understand why the police ‘never made the smallest effort to find or follow the money’. He said he had never had any contact with Paesa, whom he said he thought must be protected.

Moving into the Costa Jamaican-British Yardies were the Jamaicans who immigrated to Britain in 1950s

Jamaican-British Yardies were the Jamaicans who immigrated to Britain in 1950s. They were involved in gang violence and got to be known as Yardies. They conduct organized crimes like drug trade and other gun crimes. They haven’t tried infiltrating the law enforcement system so they aren’t considered to be as strong as other mafia groups. All the crimes involve the use of firearms the use of which is strictly controlled in Britain.

Edward Braime, Frederick Gray and Jonathan Dawson absconded from HMP North Sea Camp in Boston, Lincolnshire

Edward Braime, Frederick Gray and Jonathan Dawson absconded from HMP North Sea Camp in Boston, Lincolnshire, between 2.30am and 6am on Friday.A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said they remained at large.Since their disappearance on Friday police have been carrying out inquiries and searches both locally and further afield in areas the men are familiar with.The force previously said it is not known if they are together or whether they have separated.Braime is 39 and from Devon. An unconfirmed report suggests he was last seen wearing military type boots, black jeans, a sleeveless leather jacket and a black coat with an orange lining.
Dawson, aged 31, from Nottingham, is described as white, 5ft 6-7ins, of medium build with short brown cropped hairGray, 31, from Lincoln, is also described as white, 5ft 10ins, of medium build, with light brown, short receding hair.Police warned members of the public not to approach the men and to contact police immediately with any sightings.HMP North Sea Camp is a Category D open prison.

Police Commissioner for Amsterdam-Amstelland, said 23 wanted Britons have already been arrested in the area over the past 18 months.

Liesbeth Huyzer, Police Commissioner for Amsterdam-Amstelland, said 23 wanted Britons have already been arrested in the area over the past 18 months.
She added: "We don't want these criminals to hide out in our region and that's why we are asking the help of the public to get information to arrest more of these fugitives." Police sources said that a series of successful operations in the Costa del Sol and Cyprus had made the Mediterranean “too hot” a territory for criminals on the run. They had turned instead to Holland because it had established drugs and prostitute networks which could be exploited and afforded “the kind of lifestyle they were used to”, sources said. Among those recently captured in Amsterdam was Scotland Yard's most wanted men, Noel Cunningham, who had escaped from a prison van in 2003 as he was escorted from prison to face trial accused of a £1 million armed robbery

Spain's anti-corruption chief said Lasha Shushanashvili got away because of what he called a lack of necessary co-operation from Greek police.

Spain's anti-corruption chief said Lasha Shushanashvili got away because of what he called a lack of necessary co-operation from Greek police. Spanish officials now have no idea where the alleged mafia boss is hiding. Police in six countries arrested more than 76 men accused of theft, extortion and money laundering.
Spanish officials say most of the crimes, mainly jewellery theft, were committed elsewhere in Europe. The money was then sent to Spain to be laundered, using a number of businesses including restaurants and a courier service. Police in Austria believe the gang was responsible for almost a third of all break-ins in Vienna alone. In Spain, more than 170 police were involved in Monday's raids, the culmination of Operation Java, which lasted more than a year. They are still investigating the group's possible links to drugs and gun smuggling and say there may be more arrests to come. It is the third major operation in recent years to target east European mafia groups in Spain. Media reports say police believe the Georgian gang is linked to an alleged Russian mafia boss who was arrested two years ago and is now on trial here.

Police in Marbella have disbanded a gang involved in stealing top-of-the-range vehicles and selling them on to Kuwait

Police in Marbella have disbanded a gang involved in stealing top-of-the-range vehicles and selling them on to Kuwait after changing the registration plates.Nine people have been arrested and 13 vehicles recovered. Most are of a top German make and their keys were hidden in a consignment of loaves of bread.During the ten house-raids in Madrid and Marbella, officers found gadgets for manipulating central locking systems, frequency inhibitors, corkscrews for extracting locks, fake registration plates and a number of forged car documents. They say the organisation was highly specialised and perfectly coordinated.One of the members would steal the cars from residential complexes and drive them to a 'safe' area, whilst the others would alter the chassis number and fix false number plates on it.They were then handed over to drivers who would take them to Kuwait, although in some cases they were loaded into lorry containers and shipped across to the Middle East.

seven councillors involved in the granting of the licence guilty and sentenced them to 15 months in prison with a ten year ban

Twelve years after the initial denuncia was made, a judge has overturned a licence granted by the GIL controlled Marbella Town Hall for the construction of two blocks containing 240 flats at Pecho de las Cuevas, a green zone in the centre of Marbella.
Ecologistas en Accion say that Penal Court 4 in Málaga has found seven councillors involved in the granting of the licence guilty and sentenced them to 15 months in prison with a ten year ban from holding public office. The ecologists claim the land involved belongs to the people of Marbella.

Nicola Whittaker, 35, narrowly avoided jail after admitting leading a lavish life with gun-running ex-partner Paul Wilson.

Nicola Whittaker, 35, narrowly avoided jail after admitting leading a lavish life with gun-running ex-partner Paul Wilson.
But prosecutors believe she benefited from Wilson’s ill gotten gains to the tune of £426,030 – cash they claim was splashed on a posh house, jewellery and a boob job.
They want the money back from the mum-of-one who contested their Proceeds of Crime Act application at Liverpool crown court on Wednesday.
Most of the cash is tied up in the couple’s £250,000 home in Liverpool Road, Ainsdale – now worth up to £1m.
Prosecutors also want £82,000 spent on jewellery and £5,000 they claimed Whittaker spent on cosmetic surgery.
Whittaker, of Coronation Drive, Crosby, denied the jewels were ever hers and said her dad, Ronald Whittaker, paid for her surgery after she split from Wilson in 2006.
She said although Wilson initially bought her a boob job, she needed a second operation in 2008 because he hit her and split her implant.
Whittaker previously admitted money laundering and eight counts of concealing criminal property.
Her 12-month sentence was suspended for two years after Judge James Roberts accepted she had endured “extreme violence”.
She was given 300 hours unpaid work after the judge accepted she tried – but failed – to leave Wilson several times.
Prosecutors said the £30,000 deposit on the couple’s home and the £1,400 monthly mortgage payments from her bank account came from Wilson.

Alan Wilson (pictured) was handed a confiscation order of £919,482 by Stafford Crown Court.

Stafford company director Alan Wilson (pictured) was handed a confiscation order of £919,482 by Stafford Crown Court. The 57-year-old, from Chapel-en-le Frith, in Derbyshire, was jailed for 44 months in January after admitting theft, false accounting and fraud offences.The director of a company which designed and rented portable refrigerated units, his fraud centred on falsifying rental agreement documents, misappropriation of company funds and disposal of equipment.Wilson’s criminality funded a luxury lifestyle in the UK and Spain which included the purchase of a villa in Marbella, currently on the market at 850,000 Euros, a 47ft yacht with a list price of £490,000, a luxury home in Derbyshire and Mercedes cars.
The court directed that £764,012 of the order should be used to pay creditors of the failed company to compensate the victims of the fraud.Detective Sergeant Nick Jones, who works in the force’s economic crime unit, said: “Over the last three years the force has obtained 281 confiscation orders with a total value of £9.8 million.
We’ve also obtained cash forfeiture orders amounting to £1.3 million.
“These significant figures reflect that we are taking every opportunity to hit criminals in the pocket. Wherever possible, assets that are recovered are used to ensure crime victims are compensated.“We continue to work with the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts to make sure offenders are stripped of their assets. This includes monitoring ‘old’ cases to identify if further assets are available for confiscation.” District Crown prosecutor Mark Forster, said: “Our continuing success in the field of asset recovery is testament to the dedication and hard work put in by both police officers and Crown Prosecution Service lawyers alike.“Those engaged in crime should be aware that, working in close partnership with the police and courts, the specialist prosecutors within Staffordshire Crown Prosecution Service will be proactive in employing the powers contained in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to ensure criminals do not benefit financially from any illegal activity.
“Monies and property acquired by those engaged in crime will be taken back and used to compensate the victims.
“Those convicted can expect to face more than the prospect of simply being punished for the offence itself. “

James Walter Tomkins, 60, is hiding out on the Costa del Sol

Candy Dawson believes James Walter Tomkins, 60, is hiding out on the Costa del Sol after he allegedly slayed her son Rocky Dawson, 24, for no apparent reason in 2006.
Police have named Tomkins – also known as Jimbles – as one of the UK’s ‘Most Wanted’ criminals.But despite Crimestoppers insisting he has links to both Marbella and Fuengirola, as well as Benidorm, he has not yet been caught.Desperate mother Candy Dawson, from Essex, told of her determination to catch Tomkins.
“I have contacted you because I am desperate,” she said in an emotional interview.
“I cannot put my son to rest and I’m willing to do anything to catch this monster.
“As a mother I cannot let this person get away with what they have done to my family and his two children.”
Her son was shot in the back a number of times, in what police believe was a case of mistaken identity.Horrifically, his children watched as he was gunned down outside his mother’s house in Hornchurch, Essex.His mother explained: “My son had been visiting me and was putting his little boy, Rocky, into the back seat of his car when he was shot in the back.
“He came back into the house and said: ‘Mum I’ve been shot’, before collapsing.
“He died minutes later in my arms.”
A swift police investigation eventually led police to arrest of Christopher Pearman, 56, who was convicted of his murder in 2007.
However, his accomplice has never been found and police want to quiz Tomkins.
International director of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), David Armond, said many criminals like Tomkins could be hiding in ex-pat communities.
He said: “Attention is the key to making sure they can’t escape justice to live a life in the sun.”
Tomkins has two scars one close to his left eye on his brow and another on the right side of his neck.Described as tall, medium to stocky build and sometimes wearing a close cut beard.
A 23,000 euro reward is available for any information regarding Tomkins whereabouts.
The fresh appeal follows Crimestoppers’ success in catching half of the criminals from their most recent appeal for criminals in Spain.Of the list issued six months ago, half of the ten most wanted have already been caught.The most recent capture was Jody Flynn, caught entering the UK from Spain.
Others, such as Stephen Henry Pitman, are also believed to be living on the Costa del Sol.Operation Captura has made 31 arrests since it began its series of ‘Most Wanted’ appeals in 2006.

When her husband died, one British woman had to run down the street to the nearest translation service because she had no idea who to call.

Fortunately, for those Britons in Spain whose command of the language appears to stretch no further than hola or gracias and who are lost in Spanish bureaucracy, help is at hand: Spanish civil servants are to work at the British consulates in Malaga and Alicante to help expatriates to integrate with their neighbours.In a deal between Britain and Spain, the staff will offer advice on dealing with health services, registering with the local authorities and property problems.More than one million Britons are thought to live in Spain for at least part of the year. However, many of the thousands who headed there to retire in the sun never registered with local authorities or health services, preferring to pay taxes in Britain or rely on benefits paid back home.Because the pound has fallen against the euro and with Spain in a recession, many have found that the dream has soured. With a sparse command of Spanish and faced with trying to fathom their way through a labyrinthine bureaucracy, a rising number are struggling to cope. Expatriate aid agencies report that some have become dependent on handouts.Others bought holiday homes, putting their trust in estate agents or lawyers simply because they spoke some English. Only later did they discover that the dream homes were illegal and faced demolition.
Mary McKechnie, of the British Association of Marbella, said: “I lose patience with some people who can’t say more than gracias [thank you] and por favor [please] and don’t know how to do anything.”Karen O’Reilly, of Loughborough University, author of The British on the Costa del Sol, said: “The main point is that integration is linked to social exclusion. People who are not integrated can end up socially excluded.“I do not mean they have to learn the language and/or have Spanish friends, but they do need to understand the rules and regulations and be legal residents in order to claim rights and to have responsibilities.”
In an interview with The Times, Chris Bryant, the Europe Minister who visited Spain last weekend to meet British expatriates, said: “I would appeal to British people living in Spain to register with the authorities and with the health services.”

Spanish authorities in the port at Valencia have seized 1,200 kilos of pure cocaine

Spanish authorities in the port at Valencia have seized 1,200 kilos of pure cocaine, hidden in the false floor of a container on a freighter whose last port of call was Dominican Republic, consigned to a company in Madrid.Sources close to the ongoing investigation said two people were arrested, one in Valencia and another in Barcelona, who apparently awaited the drug.They said the container with the drug, which had been placed aboard the Cyprus-registry ship "Nordsea," had arrived in Valencia on February 23, from the Dominican Republic.
A previous discovery of a cocaine shipment in containers sent trough’s Valencia’s port prompted a probe of boats which had weighed anchor in Dominican Republic

Donald Southall ran the UK side of a smuggling network which brought in cigarettes from Eastern Europe, evading at least £1.7 million of tax.

Homes in Spain, a yacht, red E-type Jaguar and a classic Norton motorbike were all bought by Donald Southall from Sedgley who was making a mint out of his part in an international tobacco smuggling plot.He ran the UK side of a smuggling network which brought in cigarettes from Eastern Europe, evading at least £1.7 million of tax.
Customs officials believe that although they seized 11 million cigarettes, many more cigarettes would have gone into the UK black market.Gang member Robert Horton, aged 43, of Church Road, Norton Canes, controlled the European end of the operation from his base in Hungary, Northampton Crown Court heard yesterday.He would meet potential suppliers and arrange for the bulk transportation of the smuggled cigarettes by the lorry load. Southall, of Gospel End Road, Sedgley, operated the UK side of the criminal network and oversaw the arrival and distribution of the cigarettes.Horton’s partner Julie Henworth, aged 42, was said to be “at the heart” of the organised crime gang. She was said to have acted as an administrator and travel agent” by arranging and paying for flights for numerous covert meetings between Horton and Southall in Europe and beyond.Sentencing the defendants, Judge Ian Alexander said: “This was a highly professional operation. You (Southall and Horton) joined together for the mutual benefits you derived from tobacco smuggling.” Southall and Horton were sentenced to four years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of tobacco smuggling.
Henworth, of Church Road, Norton Canes, was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to charges of money laundering.Southall and Henworth were arrested in March 2007 following a series of dawn raids across the Midlands after a two-year operation.Cash, computers and paperwork including bank account details were seized from their home addresses. Horton was arrested in May 2008 when he surrendered to UK authorities.Adrian Farley, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for Customs, said today: “This was a large-scale international tobacco smuggling plot which took our investigations all over Europe.“With the support of law enforcement colleagues in Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Austria and France, we have broken up this gang and are now working to take away the proceeds of their crime.” The gang operated between 2005 and 2006.

In Spain, Russian criminal groups control 90 percent of the drugs and illegal arms flows

In Spain, Russian criminal groups control 90 percent of the drugs and illegal arms flows and have been involved in the murder of Paddy Doyle, a leading Irish criminal who was operating there. His death and the ensuing trial led to the publication of numerous articles about Russian organized crime.