No show from 007

Sean Connery summoned by Spanish court

Summons a result of an investigation that the authorities inevitably dubbed Operation Goldfinger

Sir Sean Connery and his wife, Micheline, have been summoned to appear in court in Marbella on the Costa del Sol tomorrow in a corruption case.

The summons are the result of an investigation that the authorities inevitably dubbed Operation Goldfinger and centre around the 1998 sale of Malibu, the house that Connery and his wife owned for several decades. The house was sold for €6.4m (£5.6m). The summons relates to €2.7m that the local authority claims it is owed and to the 72 luxury flats built on the site after Connery sold it, when planning permission had only been given for five family houses. The flats allegedly yielded a €53m profit.

As well as Connery and his wife, Micheline Roquebrune, 25 others have been caught up in Operation Goldfinger, among them Julián Muñoz, the former mayor of Marbella, his ex-wife Mayte Zaldívar, the singer Isabel Pantoja and the former Marbella town planning adviser, Juan Antonio Roca, who also faces a separate trial regarding property fraud amounting to more than €2bn. Several lawyers associated with the defendants also face charges. During a search of one of the lawyer's offices police uncovered €860,000 in cash.

The Connery case has attracted additional media attention thanks to an unusual intervention by the British ambassador to Spain, Giles Paxman, the brother of the BBC journalist Jeremy. Connery wrote to the ambassador saying that as far as he was concerned Goldfinger was the name of a film in which he starred and, in the words of a letter the ambassador sent to the presiding judge Ricardo Puyol on 20 September, everything published or broadcast in Spain "suggesting that criminal proceedings had been initiated against him and his wife" was news to him.

"Up until that date neither Connery nor his wife had received any communication from the judiciary or the police that legal proceedings against them were going to be initiated," Paxman wrote, suggesting to the judge that the couple be notified immediately. He asked the judge to send him a copy of the charge sheet as well as any evidence justifying the charges so that he could pass them on to the couple's permanent residence in Nassau.

Puyol was not impressed and accused the ambassador of intimidation and of launching an attack on the "independence of the Spanish judiciary". The letter has been passed on to the foreign ministry to "determine whether an ambassador should send a letter to a judge in a case involving a fellow citizen". The Spanish law council has rejected Puyol's claims that the letter amounted to intimidation.

A crowd of onlookers and press gathered for the court appearance today of Pantoja, whose dress was ripped in the crush, but whether they will get to see Connery remains in doubt. Rather than appear before the judges he seems more intent on suing for damage to his reputation. "Sir Sean has said that the mere publication of these supposed criminal proceedings doesn't only affect his reputation but may hurt him financially. For that reason he reserves the right to take action against those responsible," Paxman wrote in his letter.

If the unconfirmed rumour that Connery has contracted high-powered New York lawyers to sue the Spanish government is true he is unlikely to have much success. Spain's defamation and libel laws offer far less protection than England's. The judge said if the couple don't appear tomorrow "all the legal measures, both under national and international legislation, will be used to oblige them to attend".

Source: The Guardian

Here is the soundtrack to Goldfinger:


Source: You Tube (Juan Malillo) Key words: goldfinger bassey

Goldfinger, he's the man, the man with the Midas touch
A spider's touch
Such a cold finger beckons you to enter his web of sin
But don't go in

Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
For a golden girl knows when he's kissed her
It's the kiss of death from Mister

Goldfinger, pretty girl, beware of this heart of gold
This heart is cold
...

He loves only gold
Only gold
...

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I have to admit that I have not seen a Bond movie since the days of Sean Connery and Roger Moore. Try to compete the lyrics to the soundtrack of Skyfall - sung by Adele.