The businessman identified as R.L., arrested last July in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz) as part of a Civil Guard operation against money laundering, has left prison after the judge of the Court of Plaza number 5 of the Civil and Instruction Section of the Court of Instance of El Puerto upheld the appeal presented on August 18 by his lawyer, José María Del Nido.
As explained to Europa Press, the economic crime he is accused of "has nothing to do with the public health crime," so it would not be linked to a money laundering crime stemming from drug trafficking, which could imply "higher and elevated" penalties.
The crime of money laundering, of which there are indeed rational indications of criminality, carries a possible sentence of between six months and six years in prison. This penal framework has been one of the elements put forward to request his release, as the defense argues that "there is no reason to maintain the situation of provisional detention" and emphasizes that there is no risk of reoffending as there are no records related to the investigated facts.
In the same vein, the lawyer has argued that there is no flight risk nor indications that his client could evade justice, nor risk of concealment or destruction of evidence, given that "the court has intervened the companies from which it is said that the money that was seized could have been taken," as well as the linked bank accounts.
R.L. has been released with the obligation to appear before the judge every 15 days and with the prohibition of leaving the national territory, having to surrender his passport as a precautionary measure.
Del Nido has stated that, from now on, the defense strategy focuses on proving the innocence of the businessman from El Puerto and demonstrating that the seized money "comes from a legal activity" of leisure in El Puerto de Santa María.
The operation carried out in early July by the Civil Guard, which included searches in offices and hospitality venues in El Puerto de Santa María and the request for files in various public institutions, resulted in eleven arrests and one more person under investigation.
Of the eleven arrested, three were released by decision of the Civil Guard, while the other eight were placed at the disposal of the judiciary. The judge agreed days later to the provisional imprisonment, communicated and without bail, of two of them, among whom was R.L., who has remained in a penitentiary center in Málaga until his release this past Tuesday. The other six were released provisionally with the obligation to appear in court when required.
In this case, alleged crimes of money laundering within a criminal organization are being investigated, as well as bribery, misconduct in public office, embezzlement of public funds, disclosure of secrets, use of insider information, and influence peddling.