Tom Ewart Smith
THE corruption scandal engulfing Marbella’s judicial system has deepened, as police have announced a full review of every case handled by the court clerk who confessed to stealing €19 million in cryptocurrencies originally seized from online fraudsters.
The decision comes just weeks after the shocking theft was uncovered by Policia Nacional, and now authorities are moving to assess the full extent of the damage.
The suspect, an interim court clerk known as a Letrado de la Administracion de Justicia (LAJ), had been working in Marbella’s Court of Instruction No. 1 between October 2023 and January 2025.
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The court has decided to re-examine all judicial activity carried out by the clerk during his tenure, according to SUR.
This has been described as a response not to any specific irregularities, but prompted by his own admission to embezzling nearly €19 million in crypto assets.
These funds had been confiscated during ‘Operation Geld’, an investigation into an alleged internet scammer in Marbella.
The stolen cryptocurrencies had been secured by police in September 2024 and placed under court custody.
The digital wallet keys were sealed in an envelope and passed through various stages of judicial custody, ultimately destined for the Ministry of Justice’s Office of Asset Recovery and Management (ORGA) in Madrid.
But when ORGA officials attempted to convert the digital funds into euros this January, they discovered the wallets were nearly empty.
Less than €100,000 remained from what had been a haul worth €19 million.
A police investigation ensued, eventually leading to the arrest of the substitute clerk – a respected civil servant with a clean record and reputation for hard work.
He was found to have intercepted the sealed envelope containing the crypto wallet passwords, and, rather than transferring them directly to Madrid, delayed the process for three months, allegedly in an attempt to obscure his tracks.
Investigators later discovered the clerk had purchased a secure digital wallet for private use and had referred to himself as a ‘crypto investor.’
A search of properties linked to the suspect revealed critical evidence: a paper note containing the updated access credentials hidden behind a wardrobe doorframe.
The LAJ confessed following his arrest just before Easter and is currently under investigation for embezzlement and breach of official duties.
He has been suspended from all court functions and could soon be permanently removed from the national register of substitute clerks, pending a decision by the Ministry of Justice.
