Luis Roldán Ibáñez is a free man today, having spent 15 of a 30 year prison sentence in jail. At age 66 he is entitled to receive a pension although he has never returned the €10million he stole as the first civilian to head the Guardia Civil. "I have paid dearly for what I did," he says, "but there are those who got away scot free."
Of course there are, lots of them, but none as corrupt as this head of one of the country's principal police forces from 1986 to 1993 - plenty of time to steal plenty of money. He stole taxpayers' money, amassing a fortune estimated at €30million; he received large 'commissions' from the builders of thousands of Guardia Civil buildings; he escaped justice for 11 months and was eventually caught in Bangkok; he falsified university diplomas throughout his career; he created fictitious companies in Spain and Switzerland to hide his ill-gotten gains; he evaded taxes (well, he would, wouldn't he?), his case contributed largely to the fall of the PSOE government of Felipe González.
Not bad for the son of a taxi driver.
Not bad for the son of a taxi driver.
The man blames former spy Francisco Paesa for his misfortunes, for giving him away in Thailand, and says Paesa has the missing millions. Paesa has never been brought to court, which supposedly pains Roldán immensely. It is widely believed, however, that they are 'compinches', in cahoots to this day.
Roldán was originally condemned to 31 years in prison but Spain's new Penal Code had this reduced to 20. He spent the last five at a Centro de Inserción Social in Zaragoza, a sort of half way house in his native city.
And now he is a pensioner. With €10 million in the (Swiss?) bank.
(c) Alexander Bewick 2010
(c) Alexander Bewick 2010
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