It was no secret that something wicked was scratching at the underbelly of Spain's Costa del Sol.
The sunny southern stretch of beaches branded "the Coast of Crime" is a hedonist's paradise. It is the summer residence of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd, and place where jet setters and "beautiful people" arrive by the scores, its harbors brim with yachts and buckets of cash exchange hands.
It has also been an open secret that in the regional capital of Marbella much of that money comes from the seedy-side of life, linked to speculating in real estate, or dirtier crimes, such as extortion, contract murders, car-thefts, arms and drugs trafficking and prostitution. It is suspected that much of those ill-gotten gains were sent to offshore accounts. Once laundered, funds then entered back into the Spanish real estate market, as characterized by property promotions changing hands multiple times before the first habitant opened the door. In other words, real estate promotions were sold, and resold, various times - and each time the price rising - without a "physical" owner ever taking possession of the keys.
As a sign of the international crime element an Interpol report notes: "There is an exceptionally large number of Estonian and Russian professional criminals carrying out, besides a large scale hashish and cocaine trafficking, remarkable sex business in the numerous hotels and restaurants of Costa del Sol." Meanwhile, according to Online Security, "Italian crime groups' longtime investments in real estate and entertainment enterprises--particularly gambling casinos--in Germany, France, Monaco, Spain's Costa del Sol, and the Caribbean are conduits for money laundering."
Still, what was not known – or at least officially recognized – was on how large a scale international organized crime was using this playground for the rich and famous as Europe’s money laundering capital.
That is, until March 12.
That is the day Spain’s Ministry of Interior announced that a 10-month investigation dubbed "White Whale" had borne fruit. Spanish authorities detained 41 people involved in the laundering of over 250 million euros, making it the largest case in Europe's history. Fourteen people were later released on bail. Besides working with Interpol and Europol, more than 300 Spanish police were involved in the operation, which initially focused on law firms involved in the laundering of money from crime groups from countries such as Finland, France, Morocco, Spain, Russia and the Ukraine.
Investigators confiscated not only computer hard drives, but also two airplanes, a yacht and 42 luxury cars, as well as 251 properties. The Ministry of Interior said simultaneous searches were held in The Netherlands. Those searches were labeled as "positive."
"The fight against money laundering is one of the pillars in combating organized crime, and we will continue specializing on this aspect," said José Antonio Alonso, Spain Interior Minister. Alonso has also said that organized crime is "as big a threat to Spanish security as Islamist terrorism." The sheer magnitude of the money laundering operation, though, should not be a surprise given past criminal activity in the area: Authorities busted 53 gangs in 2003 operating in the region, arresting 323 people from 12 countries.
Spain's Ministry of Interior claims some of the money trail from the "White Whale" investigation included funds from troubled Russian oil company Yukos. Funds were siphoned into a Dutch company, with plans to "reinvest" then in its Spanish branch later. "The highest political and judicial Russian authorities are interested in the case. Currently, judicial authorities from both countries are in contact," the Ministry of Interior said in a statement. A separate source told Spero News that the Russian government does lend credence to the allegations and that a state prosecutor from that country was in Spain.
But Yu
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