MARBELLA – The mayor of Marbella is besieged on all sides and affected by corruption scandals. Her stepson is under trial. Her husband has been summoned. Furthermore, her finances are in question. And now she has sued a newspaper.
This week, the local newspaper Marbella 24 Horas published that Ángeles Muñoz continues to hide the contracts with the company Codecosol accused of money laundering. These are contracts that she signed between 2011 and 2015 for more than €600,000. Moreover, Codecosol is accused of being a front for money laundering.
Corruption scandals, drug trafficking and money laundering
One of those contracts was sent by Muñoz’s husband, Lars Broberg, to an unofficial email account owned by the mayor. Already three months ago, the socialist party PSOE submitted its first request for access to the contracts with Codecosol. To date, they have not been provided. The mayor keeps giving various excuses for not giving the papers. PSOE spokesman José Bernal says: “There is nothing new. They are not giving the documentation directly involved in a case of drug trafficking and money laundering. What will they have to hide?”
On a political level, these contracts would be one of the most important direct links between Marbella’s town hall and the controversial Swedish plot in which Muñoz’s husband and stepson are directly involved.
The digital newspaper ElDiario.es published in early November that at least five contracts for works worth more than €600,000 had been signed between the municipality and Codecosol. That company is led by Nils Fischer, a confidant of stepson Joakim Broberg. Both are being prosecuted in the case. Lars Broberg also acted as an intermediary in one of those contracts.
In particular, “elDiario.es” revealed a series of emails in which the Swedish businessman sent his wife the Codecosol proposal. Moreover, it happened through a shadow email account that the mayor controlled (which she has never denied). It was from there she later forwarded the emails to the alderman of Public Works.
Mayor sues newspaper
On Tuesday, ElDiario.es announced that the mayor of Marbella is demanding €50,000 euros from the newspaper for ‘defamation’. Ángeles Muñoz believes that the information disclosed in this way about the persecution of her husband and her stepson or the large patrimony of the PP policy is “slanderous, insulting, and offensive”. The newspaper in question has so far revealed most of the details about the case.
In November, Muñoz, in her name and that of the Marbella town hall, sent a notarial request to elDiario.es demanding that this medium return within ten days the e-mails in its possession containing indications of corruption. Otherwise, they would file a complaint for disclosure of secrets. Likewise, Muñoz demanded that the news be removed based on the content of those emails she received or sent over several years.
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Newspaper refuses to be silenced
ElDiario.es refused to provide the requested material that the newspaper uses to carry out its informational work. To date, the newspaper has not received notice of any complaint related to the disclosure of secrets or for any other offence apart from the lawsuit for violation of the right of honour.
Response of editor-in-chief
Editor-in-chief and founder Ignacio Escolar responded in the editorial that whatever threats the newspaper might face, he has no intention of “silence”. He also reported that he has already been charged dozens of times. “There are many more charges; some only affect me, and others also target other journalists on our team. This situation is never pleasant. As a director, I assume all civil and criminal liability for every news item we publish, for every puddle, we jump into, and for every news item we reveal on elDiario.es. Every year I spend more time in court, sued by all sorts of people, companies or institutions that don’t like our work.”
Also read: Court seizes residence belonging to the son of the Marbella Mayor
