MADRID: Lawyers who acted for Sean Connery have been handed lengthy prison sentences after being convicted of tax fraud following an inquiry sparked by the sale of the actor’s Spanish home. Luis Juega Garcia was sentenced to nine years and three months jail after being convicted of four tax crimes after a long-running trial at a court in Malaga.
Hector Diaz Bastien and Ramon Asesio Bolea were both handed seven year nine month sentences – two years seven months for each of the three tax crimes they were convicted of – after the trial at a court in Malaga. The three men were also ordered to repay more than £14 million in unpaid company tax along with two other offenders including one referred to in the past as Sir Sean’s wife’s Marbella banker – and fined heavily over their individual tax return offences.
Hector Diaz Bastien was the founder of law firm Diaz-Bastien & Truan which the James Bond actor used when he sold Marbella home Casa Malibu in 1999 – and Bolea and Garcia partners. The house near Puerto Banus was subsequently demolished and more than 70 flats, later sold for an estimated £45 million, were built in its place despite planning regulations stipulating only five flats could be built there.
The deal led to a high-profile police and judicial investigation dubbed Goldfinger after the 1964 Bond film starring Sir Sean. The Scots actor was asked about his links to convicted criminals and his personal finances during the Spanish court probe into the sale.
