Antonio Gimenez (a.k.a. Jimenez) Raso - HELP WANTED

Whatever happened to Antonio Jimenez?

After a heroic stint in Morocco stirring up dubious 'sightings' of Madeleine McCann for Metodo 3 and Brian Kennedy, he was last heard of being bundled into a Portuguese prison on or about 21 February 2008. He had been accused, while being the Head of the Catalonian Police Special Unit against Serious Crime and Drug and People Trafficking in 2004, of co-operating with major drug dealers to steal a container containing half a ton of cocaine worth £25 million (that was quite a lot of money in those days).

What happened to him please?

Does anyone know?

Was he charged? If so, was he found guilty? If yes, what was his sentence?

It does seem strange that Brian Kennedy should first of all pick Antonio Jimenez to help his Moroccan project, only to find him remanded in custody a few months later, and then pick Kevin Halligen, only to see him carted off to Belmarsh Top Security Prison awaiting extradition to the U.S. on a $2 million fraud charge.

The next man to find favour with the Cheshire double-glazing magnate was dear Dave 'Tanner-might-have-seen-a-woman' Edgar.

Kennedy's first two choices didn't work out too well - rather surprising one feels for a man with such renowned business acumen and judgment.

One sincerely hopes for Dave Edgar's sake that in his case it will be 'third time lucky'.

Do we know his second surname ? He is referred to as Antonio Jimenez, and then as Antonio J.R. That might help a search.
All I can find is these two articles translated by Duarte Levy into Spanish, and then by me into English ! Bt we may simply be re-cycling stuff we already know.


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23 de febrero de 2008
Caso Madeleine McCann - Detective al servicio de los McCann detenido por robo de cocaína
SOS Madeleine

Él es, el que había "descubierto" los testigos que afirmaron haber visto a Maddie

Uno de los detectives privados al servicio de los McCann, perteneciente a la agencia Método 3, fue detenido por su participación en el robo de 400 kilos de cocaína en el puerto de Barcelona.

El detective Antonio J.R. de 53 años - que trabaja para Método 3 en el expediente de investigación de la desaparición de Madeleine McCann - ocupaba el cargo de Inspector Jefe de la Unidad de Drogas y del Crimen Organizado (Udyco) de la Policía Barcelona, en el momento de los hechos. Él había abandonado la policía para entrar directamente al servicio de la agencia Método 3, en el preciso momento en que los servicios internos habían comenzado la investigación acerca de la desaparición de 400 kilos de cocaína, sobre un total de una tonelada y media, incautada en un barco procedente de Venezuela.

Es el Tribunal de Primera Instancia de Martorell (Barcelona), el que ha dictado hoy la prisión preventiva, sin recurso, para Antonio J.R., acusado de prevaricación, corrupción, corrupción de funcionarios públicos y asociación criminal ilícita.

Al servicio de Método 3 desde 2005, el detective se encargo de operaciones especiales en el marco de las investigaciones sobre la desaparición de Madeleine McCann, él es quien, en los últimos meses, viajó a Marruecos y Portugal, anunciando varios testigos, que afirmaron haber visto a Madeleine.
Duarte Levy (Barcelona)
Traducción de Mila



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13 de marzo de 2008
Caso Madeleine McCann - Un Detective de M3 ha pagado testigos en Marruecos
SOS Madeleine
M3 hizo todo para "guardarse" a los McCann .

Uno de los detectives que trabajaban para Método 3 habría pagado testigos que afirmaron haber apercibido a Madeleine en Marruecos. La acusación ha sido hecha por una fuente de la seguridad marroquí, responsable del interrogatorio de los testigos en el reino, donde las autoridades cuestionan los métodos de trabajo de Método 3. La detención de Antonio Jiménez, uno de los detectives privados al servicio de los McCann, acusado de implicación en el robo de varios centenares de kilos de cocaína y de corrupción de funcionarios públicos, vino a reforzar las sospechas de las autoridades con respecto al trabajo de la agencia.

En el informe de audiencia, uno de los testigos interrogados por la seguridad marroquí admitió el haber recibido varios miles de euros del detective español que le había pedido guardar el acuerdo secreto "para no afectar a las investigaciones".

Antonio Jiménez, antiguo inspector- jefe de la Unidad de Drogas y Delincuencia Organizada (Udyco) de la policía en Barcelona, era el hombre de confianza de Francisco Marco, el director de M3, en Marruecos. Es él el que había encontrado a varios testigos que afirmaron haber visto a Madeleine en el norte del país. El mismo llevo a cabo los encuentros entre varios periodistas británicos y los testigos.

Según la misma fuente, el pago de dinero habría podido haber sido hecho a espaldas de Gerry y Kate McCann, lo que hace creer a los investigadores que el detective actuó con la intención de marcar puntos para la agencia de Barcelona ante la opinión pública y guardar así, por mucho mas tiempo, el contrato con los padres de Madeleine, su mayor cliente actualmente.

"Pudimos determinar, con lo que el testigo ha dicho y la información que recibimos de España, que los padres de Madeleine no pidieron al detective actuar de este modo," nos afirma al responsable de la seguridad marroquí, añadiendo "que no se excluye que la agencia de detectives pueda ser el único responsable de estos hechos".

Ya en noviembre de 2007, al margen de la 76 asamblea general de INTERPOL, en Marrakech, el Ministro de Interior marroquí, Chakib Benmoussa afirmaba "que no había ninguna razón para pensar que la pequeña Madeleine McCann pudiera estar en Marruecos", una opinión confirmada por los investigadores in situ.

Varias voces vinculadas a la policía portuguesa y británica se alzaron, en distintas ocasiones, para criticar el trabajo de Método 3. Es el caso de Marco Williams- Thomas, criminalista británico y experto en cuanto a protección de niños, para quien la pista alegada por Método 3 de que Madeleine habría sido secuestrada por encargo de una red pederasta y transportada a Marruecos, "demuestra una falta de conocimiento de los pederastas y de cómo funcionan.

Desde la desaparición de Madeleine McCann, el 3 de mayo de 2007, varias decenas de testigos afirmaron haber visto a la pequeña británica, pero fue después de la contratación de Método 3 cuando los testimonios en los medios de comunicación se volvieron más regulares, indicando cada vez una pista hacia Marruecos, sin que la agencia de detectives pudiera, hasta ahora, aportar la menor prueba.

Francisco Marco, el muy mediático director de Método 3, había hecho su aparición con la promesa de que encontraría a la niña antes del final del contrato de seis meses con Kate y Gerry McCann. Francisco hasta pretendía conocer la identidad de los autores del secuestro y que Madeleine estaría con sus padres para Navidad.

No es la primera vez que se cuestiona a los miembros de M3. Anteriormente, cinco miembros de la agencia de Barcelona ya fueron detenidos por la policía en una oscura historia de escuchas ilegales y corrupción, en particular, Francisco Marco, su madre, Maria Fernández Lado, su padre, Francisco Marco Poyuelo, su hermano Francisco Gabriel Fernández Lado, y un empleado, Oscar Trujillo.

"Todos los medios son buenos"

Clarence Mitchell, cuestionado con respecto a las acusaciones hechas a Método 3, comienza afirmando "que no sabe nada", y que "no está en condiciones de hacer un comentario," pero rápidamente reanuda con su papel de responsable en comunicación y relativiza afirmando que "todos los medios son buenos" para las investigaciones de los detectives privados: "es posible que durante la investigación tuvieran que pagar información", admitió el responsable en comunicación al servicio de los McCann.


Método 3, afirma Clarence Mitchell, "guarda la confianza de los que pagan sus gastos, ya que encuentran que demuestran su compromiso y su pasión en encontrar a Madeleine". "los benefactores están contentos con su trabajo in situ... en ocasiones han tenido que seguir rastros muy rápidamente... a veces en el espacio de tres horas y son simplemente más rápidos, mucho más rápidos que INTERPOL o los servicios de policía en los países donde operan y en consecuencia los mecenas piensan que hacen un buen trabajo," afirma Clarence añadiendo "por supuesto, ellos aún no han encontrado a Madeleine, pero la policía tampoco"." Sabemos que M3 trabaja bien, ellos no tienen que probárnoslo ", concluye Clarence Mitchell".

Publicado por Duarte Levy
Traducción de Mila

23 February 2008
Case of Madeleine McCann - Detective in the service of the McCanns arrested for theft of cocaine.

It is he. The one who “discovered” witnesses who said they had seen Madeleine.

On of the detectives in the service of the McCanns, belonging to the agency Metodo3 was detained for his participation in the theft of 400 kilos of cocaine in the port of Barcelona.

The detective Antonio J.R. 53 years old, who worked for Metodo3 in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann - held the position of Chief Inspector of the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit (UDYCO) of the Barcelona Police, at the time of the event. He had left the police to enter directly into the service of the agency Metodo3, at the precise moment that the internal services had started the investigations around the disappearance of 400 kilos of cocaine, out of a total of a tonne and a half, which was seized form a ship coming form Venezuela.

The Court of First Instance in Marorell (Barcelona) ordered preventive detention, without appeal, for Antonio J.R. who is accused of prevarication, corruption, corruption in t a public office, and illicit criminal association.

In the service of Metodo3 since 2005, the detective was in charge of special operations in the case of the investigation in to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, it was he who in the last few months went to Morocco and Portugal, and announced that there were several witnesses who stated they had seen Madeleine.



13 March 2008
The case of Madeleine McCann - A detective from M3 paid witnesses in Morocco

M3 did everything to look after the McCanns

One of the detectives who was working for Metodo3 paid witnesses who would say they had seen Madeleine in Morocco. The accusation was made by a source in the Moroccan Security services, responsible for the interrogation of witnesses in the Kingdom, where the authorities questioned the methods of working of Metodo3. The detention of Antonio Jimenez, one of the private detectives in the service of the McCanns, accused of being implicated in the theft of several hundred kilos of cocaine, and of corruption in public office, goes to reinforce the suspicions of the authorities with respect to the work of this agency.

On the information received, one of the witnesses questioned by the Moroccan security admitted having received several thousands of Euros from the Spanish detective, who had told him/her to keep the arrangement secret “so as not to affect the investigations”

Antonio Jimenez, lately Chief Inspector of the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit (UDYCO) of the Police in Barcelona, was the right hand man of Francisco Marco, the director of M3, in Morocco. It was he who had met several witnesses who stated they had seen Madeleine in the north of the country. He also organised the meetings between the newspapers and the witnesses.
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IN November 2007, at a meeting with the General assembly of Interpol in Marrakech, the Moroccan Minister of the interior, Chakib Benmoussa stated “that there is no reason to believe that little Madeleine McCanns could be in Morocco”, an opinion which was confirmed by the investigators on the ground.

I've had a good look on the internet and can't find anything further about him after his arrest either

AskTheDogsSandra wrote:Another dodgy character working for Team McCann?

How unlucky can a pair of child neglecting former arguido doctors get?

Where these the 'Big boys' Gerry refereed to?

Note the spelling, Gimenez. Initial newspaper reports had it as Jimenez.

So far as I can make out he got 18 years in prison

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La acción más importante sucedió en 2005 en el puerto de Barcelona, cuando la banda robó 220 kilos de cocaína de un contenedor procedente de Venezuela.
The most important event happened in 2005 in the port of Barcelona, when the band stole 220 kilos of cocaine from a container coming from Venezuela

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......del robo, en el 2005, de 400 kilos de cocaína de un contenedor en el puerto de Barcelona.
...for the theft in 2005, of 400 kilos of cocaine from a container in the port of Barcelona.

Para el expolicía Antonio Giménez Raso, el fiscal reclama 18 años de cárcel
For the ex police officer Antonio Gimenez Raso, the public prosecutor demanded 18 years imprisonment.

Wow bravo PeterMac - brilliant piece of detective work. I spend a couple of days trying to find this little blighter, but with the surname Jimenez! Wonder why the spelling is different.

My source in Barcelona points out that the public prosecutor has APPLIED for a sentence of 18 years.
He is still in prison on remand awaiting sentence. The trial itself is over, but we still do not know the final result.
It might be a bit less.
But probably by not very much, since in the same case the prosecutor has applied for a sentence of 52 years for the leader !

candyfloss wrote:Wow bravo PeterMac - brilliant piece of detective work. I spend a couple of days trying to find this little blighter, but with the surname Jimenez! Wonder why the spelling is different.

Because it was written up by a journalist. And they always check their facts !

Remind me who talked about having done "Due Diligence", before hiring the private detectives. Was it Wells Braithwaite, or Mitchell ?
2 out of 3 in prison, and the third in charge of an alleged company which is itself subject to, shall we say, some searching questions, both about the Company itself and the actions of its employees.
(Think 'trip to Barcelona' where they did not visit the alleged bar, nor the alleged marina, nor speak to any of the alleged people. Edgar said he would look into it.
As he is a retired Police officer we must assume that he did, but there seems to have been no follow up visit made to the Barcelona to do the job properly.)

I love this line...
p. 282 "Our first investigators, the Spanish company Metodo 3, began working for us in October. Snip. M 3 also had links to the Spanish Police, who, in turn, had good connections with the Portuguese police. "

Links with the Spanish Police one supposes include Gimenez, q.v.
Did she not know that he has been locked up on remand since 2009 before she wrote this ?

Oh and incidentally this must be the same Portuguese police about whom 2 pages earlier she had said,
p. 280 "However, as the months rolled by, our faith in them had rapidly declined, hitting rock-bottom in August."

Do we detect a certain lack of coherence and consistency ?

Hello there.

I may be a bit late with this question relating to Peter Mac Aug 27th post about Antonio Jemenez and Braithwaite connection.

The name of the chap who owns (think its called Re-Max estate agency?) I know is called Briathwaite and based in Austraila.

Did'nt Rob Murats girl friend work for Re-Max?

The name is
Antonio Giménez Raso
you must use the correct spelling to find him on google.

You use two spellings in the same post - Braithwaite - and - Briathwaite.

Details are important.

I tried to post this in the later thread about Antonio Giménez Raso but it is apparently locked for some reason. People may remember that he was the Metodo 3 detective who was involved in the McCann case.

I just thought it might be a good idea to bring the story up to date so to speak.

Though it is an old story it is often wrongly said that this man (and his brother) were convicted of being involved in the theft of a large quantity of drugs. The prosecutor was demanding massive sentences ranging up to 50 years for those being tried (it was 18 for AGR) but those sentences demands did not reflect the result.

In fact none of the police (or ex police) charged with those offences were convicted. They were all acquitted of all charges when the case came to court.

The Judge was critical of their relationship to the criminals who were in fact convicted for the original crime of taking the drugs but did not see fit to convict any of them.

The article makes it clear that Antonio Giménez Raso was exonerated of all involvement (the word should be exculpa not exclupa) and that his brother wasn't in the end even taken to trial.

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from Amazon forum on Madeleine
I copied this ages ago but it exonorates M3 to some extend.

Cyr Jimenez Says:
February 8th, 2012 at 12:06 pm

I have said that the McCanns NEVER looked for Madeleine because, while their friends were knocking on doors waking up the dead that evening asking everybody to look for the little girl that ‘had been abducted’, it was later established that her parents never moved from their apartment but were busy deleting compromising calls from their mobiles. (This is on record too).
When it was generally felt that the McCanns were not doing enough to find Madeleine and no Portuguese detective agency would touch them, they resorted to a well-known Barcelona Agency to which they paid a substantial sum (€50,000 from memory. It was not their money, was it?). The Agency immediately made a big song and dance of informing the world that they knew Madeleine was being held in Morocco and they were going to get her. I was furious.

It took me a while but in the end I managed to speak to the Managing Director in clear Spanish. I asked how was it that a Detective Agency of their standing could make such a ridiculous assertion making it known ‘they knew Madeleine was held in Morocco and they were going to get her’. He tried to wriggle out of it but in the end he said ‘DON’T ASK ME. THAT’S THE PARENTS STRATEGY’.
I am in no doubt that the truth will be known and Justice will be done IN THE END. It is doubly unfortunate that the ‘incident’ took place at the start of the Algarve tourist season so crucial for the Portuguese economy. Otherwise the Judiciária would have cut out all the pussyfooting from the outset.
Unquote

tigger wrote:from Amazon forum on Madeleine
I copied this ages ago but it exonorates M3 to some extend.

Cyr Jimenez Says:
February 8th, 2012 at 12:06 pm

I have said that the McCanns NEVER looked for Madeleine because, while their friends were knocking on doors waking up the dead that evening asking everybody to look for the little girl that ‘had been abducted’, it was later established that her parents never moved from their apartment but were busy deleting compromising calls from their mobiles. (This is on record too).
When it was generally felt that the McCanns were not doing enough to find Madeleine and no Portuguese detective agency would touch them, they resorted to a well-known Barcelona Agency to which they paid a substantial sum (€50,000 from memory. It was not their money, was it?). The Agency immediately made a big song and dance of informing the world that they knew Madeleine was being held in Morocco and they were going to get her. I was furious.

It took me a while but in the end I managed to speak to the Managing Director in clear Spanish. I asked how was it that a Detective Agency of their standing could make such a ridiculous assertion making it known ‘they knew Madeleine was held in Morocco and they were going to get her’. He tried to wriggle out of it but in the end he said ‘DON’T ASK ME. THAT’S THE PARENTS STRATEGY’.
I am in no doubt that the truth will be known and Justice will be done IN THE END. It is doubly unfortunate that the ‘incident’ took place at the start of the Algarve tourist season so crucial for the Portuguese economy. Otherwise the Judiciária would have cut out all the pussyfooting from the outset.
Unquote

WOW! Thanks for posting. I wonder if the PJ and SY have interviewed him? He knows a lot more than random burglars!

ultimaThule wrote:The Court of First Instance in Marorell (Barcelona) ordered preventive detention, without appeal, for Antonio J.R. who is accused of prevarication, corruption, corruption in a public office, and illicit criminal association.

An interesting assortment of accusations, 'prevarication' being one it's unlikely can be levied against the McCanns   

Preventive detention is the equivalent to being remanded in custody. He hadn't been convicted of anything.

When the case came to court, no matter what the charges were or what was accused of, he was acquitted of them all and found guilty of nothing. His twin brother was released prior to the actual trial when the charges against him were dropped and he didn't even have to face the court.

Ristretto wrote:

ultimaThule wrote:The Court of First Instance in Martorell (Barcelona) ordered preventive detention, without appeal, for Antonio J.R. who is accused of prevarication, corruption, corruption in a public office, and illicit criminal association.

An interesting assortment of accusations, 'prevarication' being one it's unlikely can be levied against the McCanns   

Preventive detention is the equivalent to being remanded in custody. He hadn't been convicted of anything.

When the case came to court, no matter what the charges were or what was accused of, he was acquitted of them all and found guilty of nothing. His twin brother was released prior to the actual trial when the charges against him were dropped and he didn't even have to face the court.

Ristretto, I agree that Antonio Jiminez Raso was found not guilty (and have already stated this on the forum many moons ago), though as you also say, the judge made very strong remarks about his very close ties with what the court itself described as 'a 27-strong criminal gang which practised extreme violence'. He was indeed remanded in custody and spent almost exactly 4 years remanded in custody, which would not of course happened unless there was a very strong prima facie case against him.

In your two posts about AJR, you have made certain statments about his twin brother, who was also banged up for a very long period. You stated:

"His twin brother was released prior to the actual trial when the charges against him were dropped and he didn't even have to face the court".

Could you please tell us:

1. The date of his twin brother's arrest

2. The date of his twin brother's release and

3. The sources you have used for all the assertions you have made on this thread - many thanks.

Tony Bennett wrote:

Ristretto wrote:

ultimaThule wrote:The Court of First Instance in Martorell (Barcelona) ordered preventive detention, without appeal, for Antonio J.R. who is accused of prevarication, corruption, corruption in a public office, and illicit criminal association.

An interesting assortment of accusations, 'prevarication' being one it's unlikely can be levied against the McCanns   

Preventive detention is the equivalent to being remanded in custody. He hadn't been convicted of anything.

When the case came to court, no matter what the charges were or what was accused of, he was acquitted of them all and found guilty of nothing. His twin brother was released prior to the actual trial when the charges against him were dropped and he didn't even have to face the court.

Ristretto, I agree that Antonio Jiminez Raso was found not guilty (and have already stated this on the forum many moons ago), though as you also say, the judge made very strong remarks about his very close ties with what the court itself described as 'a 27-strong criminal gang which practised extreme violence'. He was indeed remanded in custody and spent almost exactly 4 years remanded in custody, which would not of course happened unless there was a very strong prima facie case against him.

In your two posts about AJR, you have made certain statments about his twin brother, who was also banged up for a very long period. You stated:

"His twin brother was released prior to the actual trial when the charges against him were dropped and he didn't even have to face the court".

Could you please tell us:

1. The date of his twin brother's arrest

2. The date of his twin brother's release and

3. The sources you have used for all the assertions you have made on this thread - many thanks.

The information to support what I have posted is in the article linked to in my earlier post.