Court upholds decision to prosecute Marbella mayor’s stepson for involvement in criminal organisation

He was one of 17 to appeal against the decision to prosecute. The court has rejected all of the appeals, except for two.

The decision upheld by the court describes how Broberg, a Swedish citizen resident in Marbella, was the head of the organisation and maintained contacts with suppliers and clients, along with another of the defendants, Roberto Bayona.

According to the ruling, during 2019 Broberg and Bayona took marijuana from Spain to France and the pair formed a complex hierarchical and disciplinary structure in which Joakim Broberg was the leader.

The court order details six money laundering operations attributed to Broberg, at least three of which are also connected to his father Lars Broberg, the mayor's husband, for whom proceedings have been suspended for health reasons. The ruling puts the amounts laundered at 7,300,820 euros.

The appeals court dismissed the case brought by Joakim Broberg's defence, who claimed that there was insufficient evidence to support his involvement with the organisation. The court considered that the order contains an adequate and sufficient factual description of the offences with which he is charged and that the level of the defendant’s participation in the offences will be determined during the trial.

The court added that the origin of the funds used in the money laundering activity "is to be found in some alleged illicit drug trafficking operations, so that, for the time being, there is sufficient evidence to include the indictment in question, related to allegedly taxable conduct for the crime of money laundering, specifically based on six financial operations extensively described in the resolution".