Thirty days is the time limit a Marbella judge has given 79-year-old actor Sean Connery and his wife to pay some 3.3 million euros as security to cover any civil liabilities resulting from their charges in the Malibu planning case. The court has been investigating irregularities in the deals that led to the construction of 72 luxury apartments on land that was once home to a seaside villa, in which Connery and his wife lived for many years. The state auditing tribunal states that the deals allegedly caused the municipal coffers to lose out on 2.7 million euros. The 1986 PGOU (town development plan) that was in force at the time only allowed the construction of five houses on the land. The investigation has revealed that the profits from the sale of the plot were more than 53 million euros. Operation Goldfinger Connery’s alleged involvement in the case hit the headlines in May, when he and his wife appeared on the list of people the investigating court wanted to speak to in relation to the case, codenamed ‘Goldfinger’. The investigation included searches at the offices of the Díaz-Bastién y Truán (DBT) law firm located in Marbella and Madrid. Several lawyers from the firm are among the around 20 people who face charges in the case, along with former mayor Julián Muñoz and alleged Malaya ringleader Juan Antonio Roca. According to the judge, Ricardo Puyol, the law firm participated in the setting up of a network involving two firms, By The Sea SL and Malibú SA (whose joint administrators were Connery and his wife). This arrangement was allegedly used to commit embezzlement, corruption, influence peddling and fraud as well as to launder the “fat profits” obtained from the sale of the new properties. In the document that informs of the 3.3 million euro bond required from Connery the judge also refers to possible tax evasion and bribery. The document goes on to say that the present real estate complex is the result of three irregular planning deals. The first dates back to January 2000 and was signed by Julián Muñoz and Malibú SA, and the remaining two were signed by Muñoz and By The Sea between then and 2003. The former mayor and several former councillors have been called for further questioning by the judge on July 9th. All three deals involved increasing the permitted volume of construction on the site but none of them were taken before the council or the local government commission for approval. By The Sea appears to be a fiscally opaque company formed mainly by firms based in tax havens, according to the investigators, who claim that the profits are withdrawn as and when the properties are sold.