Town hall councilor arrested in money-laundering probe resigns

A town councilor implicated in a massive case of money laundering that came to light earlier this week has resigned, according to the town hall where he worked.

Socialist councilor José Borrás Hernández, from the municipal government of the Madrid dormitory town of Fuenlabrada, presented his resignation to Mayor Manuel Robles on Friday.

Fifty-seven-year-old Borrás was arrested on Tuesday as part of a three-year investigation that has been codenamed Operation Emperor. He was released after being charged with bribery, influence peddling and embezzlement.

Borrás resigned “for ethical reasons and out of respect to his commitment to the people,” Manuel Robles, who is also a Socialist, said. Borrás said he did not want to “harm the figure of the mayor” and his companions with the municipal government, Robles added.

“I fully share his conviction that he can demonstrate his innocence,” Robles said. “As mayor, I profoundly thank him in my own name and that of all of the municipal government for his honesty and the services he has rendered.”

More than 80 people were arrested in the operation, with 17 formally charged including the alleged ringleader Gao Ping, a Chinese-born businessman with extensive interests in Spain.

Anti-corruption prosecutors claim that Gao’s group laundered between 200 and 300 million euros a year through a number of different schemes, including the sale of cheap, fake Chinese imports.

Among those arrested was porn actor Nacho Vidal, who along with his sister, María José Jordá González. They are suspected of issuing false invoices from a movie production company they jointly own.

The authorities allege that Gao's right-hand man, Hai Bo, forced Chinese workers to send money through cash transfers to China. The ring is also accused of taking suitcases full of cash to Andorra and of shipping massive quantities of euro bills to China in containers.