Luis Roldán Ibáñez (16 August 1943 – 24 March 2022) was a
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources:
*
*
*
* political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...
politician known for being the director general of the
Civil Guard
Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations:
Current
* Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie
* Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve
* Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil
Histori ...
when a big scandal of corruption arose in 1993. This case, along with the GAL case, greatly contributed to the defeat of the PSOE in the
1996 general election
The following elections occurred in the year 1996.
* 1995–1996 Azerbaijani parliamentary election
* 1996 Beninese presidential election
* 1996 Comorian presidential election
* 1996 New Zealand general election
* 1996 Nicaraguan general election ...
. Upon initiation of prosecution for his criminal activities, Roldán escaped from Spain in 1994. He surrendered in 1995 at the airport in Bangkok. Between 1996 and 1998 he was tried in a court in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison for
embezzlement
Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
, bribery,
tax evasion
Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...
, and fraud, which the Supreme Court increased to 31 years. He was from February 1995 in the prison of Brieva (
Ávila
Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila.
It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...
), which is normally used to house women offenders but has a secluded unit in which men can serve their sentences. In 2005 he was allowed out of prison to work in an intermediate regime between the second and third degree.
Political career
A long time member of the
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources:
*
*
*
* political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...
and of the Unión General de Trabajadores trade-union, Roldán presented himself as holding a B.Sc. (Industrial Engineering) from the University of Zaragoza. Journalistic research proved that this degree was a fake.
After the socialist victory in the 1982 general elections Roldán was named Government's Delegate in Navarre, a position he held until 1986 when he became the first civilian to command the
Civil Guard
Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations:
Current
* Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie
* Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve
* Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil
Histori ...
, (Spain's
gendarmerie
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...
force).
Under his direction, major changes leading to the modernisation of the corps were undertaken. A program to reform and upgrade the residential barracks (many being in very bad state); women were recruited for the first time for the Civil Guard; the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard was created; remnants of past political investigations were eliminated; and the counter-terrorism and intelligence services of the corps were enhanced, obtaining great success in infiltrating the separatist group
ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
, leading to operations such as the arrest of the leadership of the organization in
Diario 16
''Diario 16'' (Spanish for "Daily 16" or "Newspaper 16") was a Spanish-language daily newspaper published in Madrid, Spain, between 1976 and 2001. The ''16'' of the title refers to the sixteen founders of Grupo 16, publishers of the weekly news m ...
published the first suspicions concerning excessive increase of the heritage of Luis Roldán, which eventually led to his dismissal on 3 December of that year. Roldán fled the country in early 1994 when it was discovered that he had used his office to amass a fortune through fraudulent means, resulting in the resignation of Interior Minister
Antoni Asunción
Antoni Asunción Hernández (12 July 1951 – 5 March 2016) was a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was Minister of Interior between 1993 and 1994. He also served as member of the Congress of Deputies during t ...
, responsible for monitoring Roldán, as a consequence. During his time missing, Roldán sent letters admitting partial guilt and accusing other Interior Ministry high-ranking members of having received extra money from the ''fondos reservados'' (Spanish for ''reserved funds'') theoretically destined to finance the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. Among those he accused was former minister
José Luis Corcuera
José Luis Corcuera (born 1944) is a Spanish politician who served as interior minister of Spain from 1988 to 1993.
Early life
Corcuera hails from a Basque family. He was born in 1944 and was raised in Bilbao. He left school at 14.
Career
Corcu ...
, but also PM González of 'being aware of everything'. Roldán was arrested on 27 February 1995 in Bangkok's
Don Muang Airport
Don Mueang International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานดอนเมือง, , , or colloquially as , ) is one of two international airports serving the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, the other one being Suvarnabhumi Airpo ...
, amidst claims that Roldán and the Socialist government had reached an agreement in which Roldán would agree to get caught in exchange for him being charged with just two crimes: bribery and embezzlement. These claims came to be known as the "Laos papers", yet the PSOE government refused to recognize their veracity.
Ávila
Ávila (, , ) is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Ávila.
It lies on the right bank of the Adaja river. Located more than 1,130 m abov ...
) which is normally used to house women offenders but has a secluded unit in which men can serve their sentences in February 1995. In 2005 he was allowed out of prison to work during the day but had to return to the lockup at night.
Judges have successfully raised 1,646,845 euros in civil procedure seizure of bank accounts and the auction of some of their properties seized in Spain. The bulk of his fortune, equivalent to 10 million euros in 1993, is missing.
On 19 March 2010, he was released from prison after 15 years in jail.
Popular culture
In 2015, writer
Fernando Sánchez Dragó
Fernando Sánchez Dragó (2 October 1936 – 10 April 2023) was a Spanish writer and television host.
Biography
Fernando Sánchez Dragó was born in the Salamanca (Madrid), Salamanca district of Madrid, the posthumous son of Fernando Sánche ...