Judge names suspects in massive cash-laundering case

At least 17 suspects in the massive Chinese-Spanish money-laundering investigation, known as Operation Emperor, have been formally charged as defendants by the High Court, judicial sources said Thursday.

Investigating Judge Fernando Andreu, who has been taking statements from the suspects, ordered at least four people to be held in preventive custody while setting bail for 13 others at 25,000 to 50,000 euros.

The arrest total in the case has now reached 84, with the alleged ringleader Gao Ping still being held behind bars as he waits to go before Andreu. Anti-corruption prosecutors claim that Gao's group laundered between 200 and 300 million euros a year through diverse schemes, including the sale of cheap, fake Chinese imports.

Porn actor Nacho Vidal, also arrested in Tuesday's dawn sweep, was released on his own recognizance but named as a defendant. His sister, María José Jordá González, who is suspected along with her brother of taking part in the conspiracy by issuing false invoices from a movie production company they jointly own, was sent to jail Thursday in lieu of 25,000 euros bail. José Borrás, the Socialist security chief in Fuenlabrada, the Madrid suburb out of which Gao operates his firms, was released without bail but also named as a defendant.

After a three-year investigation, authorities allege that Gao's right-hand man, Hai Bo, used extortion to force Chinese workers to send money through cash transfers to China. The co-conspirators also allegedly took suitcases of cash to Andorra and shipped massive quantities of euro bills to China in containers later filled with import items to be sold in Spain.