Kevin John Palmer Costa timeshare salesman disappeared

Kevin John Palmer is thought to have been murdered after he disappeared after a night out in a pub and country club in Hampshire – but nobody has ever been charged or convicted over his death. A murder inquiry was launched four years later when fresh evidence came to light that led detectives to believe Mr Palmer had met his death that night. Now ten years since he vanished, an inquest will be held to determine how he was killed – even though his body has never been recovered. The hearing, which will take place on Wednesday, will bring some closure to Mr Palmer’s family who have not been granted a death certificate, though they are sure he is dead. It was in the early hours of March 13, 1999, that Mr Palmer – nicknamed Jon Bon Jovi because he had similar hair to the rock star – was last seen alive, having returned to England that day from his Malaga home where he lived with his wife and child.He had spent a night at the Sir Joseph Paxton pub in Hunts Pond Road, Locks Heath, and the Abshot Country Club in Titchfield Common. Detectives know he caught a taxi from there with two other men and a woman, travelling to Bishop’s Waltham during the early hours. But a row broke out and the men are said to have got out of the vehicle, had a fight in Botley Road, near Burridge Social Club and the Horse and Jockey pub – and only two men got back in to continue the journey. They made their way to Hoe Road, to the home of convicted drug smuggler John Howett who also owned a second property in the Costa del Sol. In 2002 – three years after Mr Palmer vanished – Howett was jailed for his involvement in a drugs ring that saw £16m of cannabis smuggled into the country.
A year later, in October 2003, while Howett was serving his 12-year sentence in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, detectives from the major crime department got a breakthrough. They spent the best part of a week digging up the garden of Howett’s former home in Hoe Road as they searched for clues to Mr Palmer’s disappearance. In particular they were looking for a suitcase, a driving licence and a chunky gold necklace. Neighbours watched as police moved into the small cul-de-sac and forensic teams began digging up the garden and removing items from the house, including carpets and interior doors. As they officially launched a murder inquiry days later, senior detectives said that they believed Mr Palmer had been taken to the house in Hoe Road, dead or alive. The inquiry also saw a team of officers fly to the Costa del Sol for six days as part of the investigation. Back home, all taxi drivers working in Fareham, Eastleigh and Winchester districts at that time were approached by officers who have to this day never been able to trace the man who collected Mr Palmer and his associates that night. A 51-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail while files on the investigation, called Operation Arkholme, were passed to the Crown Prosecution Service. They later decided not to proceed with charges because of insufficient evidence. In deciding how Mr Palmer died, the coroner has the option of recording a verdict of unlawful killing or an open verdict. He is not allowed to apportion blame.

Nigerians continue to send thousands of false lottery letters from Andalucía and the Mediterranean Coast.

Nigerians continue to send thousands of false lottery letters from Andalucía and the Mediterranean Coast.The Nilo case led to the arrest of 310 people and the searching of 180 different premises, when the Málaga group was sending between 15,000 and 20,000 letters a day. But even now the police say that they are arresting a new group every two or three weeks.The United States Department of Justice estimates that there have been 2.8 million victims in the States who have paid out some 753 million €. Many of the victims pensioners or this disabled, according to the United States Government.In total some 100 million € is defrauded from more than 50 countries every year.This week the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor has called for 168 of those arrested in the Nilo case to be processed, but such a court case would be a complicated one. More than 100 of those arrested have already been expelled from Spain, while the rest are on bail, and for each victim known to the police there are an estimated 100 who are not, all of them living abroad.

Gibraltar to a blacklisted as an outlaw tax haven.

Spain is due to ask the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to return Gibraltar to a blacklist of tax havens that refuse to cooperate in fighting money laundering and other financial crimes, despite the British colony's promises of greater transparency. A spokesman for the Spanish tax office told EL PAÍS last week that the only fiscal information Spanish authorities receive from Gibraltar is "scarce and mostly useless," and that the government of the rocky outcrop on Spain's south coast routinely refuses to cooperate in investigations into money laundering and tax evasion."As far as we are concerned, Gibraltar is still a non-cooperative tax haven," the Spanish official said.

Spanish police have detained four police officers

Spanish police have detained four police officers, including three chiefs responsible for fighting organised crime, on charges of several criminal offences, police said Wednesday. The four worked on the southern Costa del Sol coast, which is known for the presence of numerous international criminal rings. The three chiefs were based in Malaga, Marbella and Fuengirola. The officers were suspected of keeping objects they had confiscated from criminals, making illegal house searches and revealing confidential information to outsiders. One of them was already awaiting trial on charges of helping an Italian drug trafficker flee. An entrepreneur and an interpreter were also held. The affair was "painful and delicate," because it affected the reputation of the national police force, government delegate Hilario Lopez Luna said. Senior official Antonio Camacho stressed that police themselves had discovered the alleged irregularities in their midst.

Nazi veteran Gerd Honsik has been arrested in Málaga today

The Nazi veteran Gerd Honsik has been arrested in Málaga today, wanted by the Austrian Judiciary.
Honsik, who has always denied that the genocide of the Jews and the gas chambers even existed, was found guilty of that denial in Vienna in 1992, and sentenced to 18 months in prison, but he escaped custody to Spain.
He has written a book ‘Absolution of Hitler’ and magazine articles for ‘Halt’ and in both denied the existence of the gas chambers, claiming that the chimney at Auschwitz was only 40cms long down from the roof.
The National Court in Spain has previously refused an application by Honsik to be considered as a political refugee, a decision which was later supported by the Spanish Supreme Court.

loans were taken out for car purchase, and were based on false documentation relating to income and employment. The loan repayments were never made.

The National Police Fraud Squad in Málaga has broken up an organised group of criminals who are believed to have defrauded more than 150,000 € by taking out fraudulent bank loans.The gang used false documentation to take out loans for car purchase but never made the repayments.Twelve vehicles have so far been detected as being bought in this way.Twelve people have been taken into custody: eight Spaniards, three Romanian nationals and a woman from Morocco. A 51 year old man from Romania is believed to have originally formed the network, and then passed it on to his two sons.