flamboyant Chilean attorney Fernando del Valle Vergara. Del Valle

At the center of the investigation is the flamboyant Chilean attorney Fernando del Valle Vergara. Del Valle and 10 of his staff were originally arrested. Press reports have stated that Del Valle´s Marbella law firm is called DVA. That has led Madrid attorney, Javier del Valle Sánchez - no relation to the Fernando del Valle - to issue a statement that his law firm 'Del Valle Abogados S.L.', and which also uses the letters DVA, has no relation to the firm in Marbella.

Fernando del Valle arrived on the Marbella real estate scene in the late 1970s - early 1980s, after a brief stint practicing law in Madrid. In the coming years Del Valle, an aficionado of fine food and classical music, would become a key player in the booming real estate market in the southern coast of Spain.