Luis Roldán | |
|---|---|
.jpeg) Roldán in 1986 | |
| Director General of theCivil Guard | |
| In office 31 December 1986 – 3 December 1993 | |
| Preceded by | José Antonio Sáenz de Santa María |
| Succeeded by | Ferran Cardenal de Alemany |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Luis Roldán Ibáñez 16 August 1943 |
| Died | 24 March 2022 (aged 78) Zaragoza, Spain |
| Political party | Socialist Workers' Party |
| Alma mater | UNED (real),University of Saragossa[citation needed] |
Luis Roldán Ibáñez (16 August 1943 – 24 March 2022) was aSpanish Socialist Workers' Party politician known for being the director general of theCivil Guard when a big scandal of corruption arose in 1993. This case, along with theGAL case, greatly contributed to the defeat of the PSOE in the1996 general election. Upon initiation of prosecution for his criminal activities, Roldán escaped from Spain in 1994. He surrendered in 1995 at the airport in Bangkok. Between 1996 and 1998 he was tried in a court inMadrid. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison forembezzlement, bribery,tax evasion, and fraud, which the Supreme Court increased to 31 years. He was from February 1995 in the prison ofBrieva (Ávila), which is normally used to house women offenders but has a secluded unit in which men can serve their sentences. In 2005 he was allowed out of prison to work[1][2] in an intermediate regime between the second and third degree.[3]
A long time member of theSpanish Socialist Workers' Party and of theUnión General de Trabajadores trade-union, Roldán presented himself as holding a B.Sc. (Industrial Engineering) from theUniversity of Zaragoza.[citation needed] Journalistic research proved that this degree was a fake.[citation needed]
After the socialist victory in the1982 general elections Roldán was named Government's Delegate in Navarre, a position he held until 1986 when he became the first civilian to command theCivil Guard, (Spain'sgendarmerie force).
Under his direction, major changes leading to the modernisation of the corps were undertaken. A program to reform and upgrade the residential barracks (many being in very bad state); women were recruited for the first time for the Civil Guard;[4] theMaritime Service of the Civil Guard was created; remnants of past political investigations were eliminated;[5] and the counter-terrorism and intelligence services of the corps were enhanced, obtaining great success in infiltrating the separatist groupETA, leading to operations such as the arrest of the leadership of the organization inBidart on 29 March 1992.
Under his direction the Civil Guard saw the appearance of an internal protest movement, composed mostly of enlisted personnel and NCOs, seeking to better the working conditions and the de-militarisation and democratisation of the Corps, forming a clandestine union of Civil Guardsmen.[6]
While Roldán was director, defective Filipino-made bullets of 9 mm Parabellum were purchased which injured military personnel. In 1993 the newspaperDiario 16 published the first suspicions concerning excessive increase of the wealth of Luis Roldán, which eventually led to his dismissal on 3 December of that year. Roldán fled the country in early 1994 when it was discovered that he had used his office to amass a fortune through fraudulent means, resulting in the resignation of Interior MinisterAntoni Asunción, responsible for monitoring Roldán, as a consequence.[7] During his time missing, Roldán sent letters admitting partial guilt and accusing other Interior Ministry high-ranking members of having received extra money from thefondos reservados (Spanish forreserved funds) theoretically destined to finance the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. Among those he accused was former ministerJosé Luis Corcuera, but also PMGonzález of 'being aware of everything'. Roldán was arrested on 27 February 1995 in Bangkok'sDon Muang Airport,[8] amidst claims that Roldán and the Socialist government had reached an agreement in which Roldán would agree to get caught in exchange for him being charged with just two crimes: bribery and embezzlement. These claims came to be known as the "Laos papers", yet the PSOE government refused to recognize their veracity.
Roldán was sent to the prison ofBrieva [es] (Ávila) which is normally used to house women offenders but has a secluded unit in which men can serve their sentences in February 1995. In 2005 he was allowed out of prison to work during the day but had to return to the lockup at night.
Judges raised 1,646,845 euros in civil procedure seizure of bank accounts and the auction of some of the properties seized in Spain. The bulk of his fortune, estimated at 10 million euros in 1993, is missing.[9]
On 19 March 2010, he was released from prison after 15 years.[10]
On 24 March 2022 Roldán died in Zaragoza at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in the Aragonese capital after several weeks in hospital. He died at age of 78.[11]
In 2015, writerFernando Sánchez Dragó published a fictionalized biography of Roldán, with his collaboration.[12]
Another book,Paesa, el espía de las mil caras by Manuel Cerdán formed the basis of the 2016 Spanish film,Smoke & Mirrors, in which Roldán is played by actorCarlos Santos.
