Sean Connery, wife to deposit multi-million dollar bond

LONDON - Veteran actor Sean Connery and his wife Micheline Roquebrune are among 26 people who have been ordered by a Spanish court to deposit a combined bond of $82 million as part of an ongoing property fraud and money laundering probe.

The probe stems from the sale in 1998 of Casa Malibu, a Marbella property in Spain which the Connerys owned for 20 years, for $8.7 million.

The local authority claims 72 luxury flats were built on the site following the sale of Casa Malibu, despite planning permission for only five family homes.

Spanish tax officials have alleged that Connery and his wife had dealings with a company involved in the scheme and that they and the developer, a company called By the Sea, were represented by the same law firm.

Several lawyers from the firm are connected with the investigation.

Connery and his wife have been named as “imputados” - witnesses whom the court treats as potential suspects - but there is no suggestion that they committed a crime, telegraph.co.uk reports.

Also involved in the case are Julian Munoz, the former mayor of Marbella, and former town planning adviser Juan Antonio Roca, who are currently on trial in a separate case regarding property fraud.