Cows come home in Malaya case

A FARMER who sold cattle to singer Isabel Pantoja and her former partner and mayor of Marbella, Julian Muñoz, in 2003, claims they never paid him.

He was testifying in a trial in Malaga Provincial Court in which Pantoja and Muñoz are accused of money laundering and is a branch of the Malaya corruption trial.

He also said they never had the paperwork for the cattle because he refused to hand it over until they paid the €120,000 owed.

However, when shown a document seized from Muñoz’s home on which the former mayor had noted that he had paid for 56 cows, he said “he may have intended to” and admitted that he had given the paperwork to a friend who later bought the cattle from Pantoja.

Pantoja is facing three and a half years in prison and a fine of €3.6 million, while Muñoz is facing seven and a half years in prison and fines totaling €7.46 million.

Muñoz’s ex-wife, Maite Zaldivar, is also on trial and faces three and a half years in prison and a €2.6 million fine.