Julien Muñozwho was mayor of Marbella, died this Tuesday at the age of 76 after battling cancer for several years. Julián remained admitted to the HC Marbella International Hospital due to a deterioration in his health. his wife Mayte ZaldivarHis two daughters and his grandson were at his side until the end of his days.
During the years he was mayor of MarbellaMuñoz attracted media attention because of a corruption case, known as the Malay. It was an urban corruption plot in which Julián Muñoz participated.
His troubles with the law began in 2006, when he was arrested in July of that year during the second phase of the legal proceedings. case Malaythe corruption plot that plundered Marbella. While in pretrial detention, Muñoz was convicted of several cases of corruption, embezzlement of public funds and prevarication. He was released from prison on October 17, 2008 after nearly two and a half years behind bars.
Later, in 2013, he was sentenced to 7 and a half years in prison and 10 years of ban of public representations due to prevarications. Although Muñoz was acquitted of charges of embezzlement of public funds and subsidiary or alternative fraud. Of course, in October of the same year he was tried again and sentenced by the Provincial Court of Malaga to 2 years in prison and 16 years in prison for the crimes of fraud and embezzlement.
During his time in prison, Muñoz developed the disease that ended his life. And it was due to the serious deterioration in his health that he was initially granted the third degree prison regime in August 2015. The decision was overturned by the Malaga court, considering that Muñoz maintains intact his “capacity to commit a crime.” On May 6, 2016, he was definitively released from prison to serve the third degree, which completed in 2021.
Garbage bags and missing millions
The million dollar question has always been the same: if he stole 46 million from the public coffers, where is that money? This is what has always been talked about the most and there is no answer. An indiscreet confession from his ex-wife, Maite Zaldívar, revealed that the politician brought the money in garbage bags.
This has never been verified. To this day, the whereabouts of this money are unknown. The Court of Auditors is still following the trail of the more than 46 million euros that disappeared during Julián Muñoz’s term and it is assumed that they could be hidden in tax havens.
Julián’s daughters, Eloísa and Elia, would be the only ones who could access these funds if they were abroad, but Muñoz and Zaldívar allegedly tried to keep them away from any involvement in the case to protect them from possible legal complications.
