Due to a procedural error, the Spanish judiciary had to release five of the six French suspects in the investigation into the kidnapping and missing of businessman Jamal B. (32) from Roosendaal. B. was hit by two cars in Marbella in August 2020 and dragged out of his car by eight armed kidnappers dressed as police officers and taken away. His wife and five children witnessed it.
Declared null and void
Daily newspaper BN DeStem writes that the five suspects can never be prosecuted again due to the judicial blunder. In January 2022, both the Public Prosecution Service and the court in Marbella seem to have forgotten to extend a procedure in the investigation, something that is strictly necessary after a change in Spanish law. The new judge in the case has therefore annulled all investigation results obtained after that date, including the evidence against the five suspects. The case against a previously arrested suspect can continue.
Private detective
A group of French drug criminals was arrested early this year by a special unit of the Spanish police that focuses on serious organized (drug) crime. This unit had given a new impetus to the stalled investigation into the disappearance of the Dutch/Moroccan Jamal B., partly due to the findings of a private detective hired by the family.
French assassins
The suspects targeted by the Spanish police are members of a group of French hitmen who may have committed at least ten assassinations on the Costa del Sol and are also behind this disappearance.
Police also link the group to a liquidation that took place a few days after the kidnapping. The target was a French businessman, of Arab descent, who was executed in his home. A friend found the body the next morning. It is suspected that the killers had climbed into the house through one of the balconies.
Golden tip
For the golden tip in the case, the family of Jamal B. offered 100,000 euros in January this year. The police think of a settlement in the criminal environment, but the family denies that. There has been “no phone call, no ransom demand, and no proof of life,” sources close to the family said. The family previously told Crimesite that the victim is ‘an honest businessman’. Jamal B. is said to have been confused with an activist politician in Morocco, who criticizes the King in that country. B. trades in expensive watches, the family stated earlier.
