Speaking for the first time since his acquittal in what had been labelled the largest ever corruption case to be investigated in Mallorca, Tolo Cursach says that he and his family and friends have suffered a great deal and that "even if I wanted to, I could neither forget nor forgive".
"The acquittal is not enough for me or for a lot of people who have suffered the injustices of former judge Penalva, former prosecutor Subirán and the money laundering police. They wanted to take advantage of us for their benefit. The worst thing is that, despite the fact that we have been acquitted, there are still people who have only read headlines and believe that if they were accused of all that, they must have done something."
Cursach reflects on how the whole case ever came about. "It's very difficult to explain everything that has happened because there are things that I don't quite understand. It started with some police examinations that were won by someone whose sympathies were not for a certain political party." He declines to specify the party but implies that it was PSOE.
"There were officers and commanders in the Palma police force who sympathised with another political party and that is where it all began. And there was a judge and a prosecutor who wanted to be more popular than those tried the Urdangarín case. It was an ego thing - of possible promotions."
He feels that Penalva and Subirán wanted to be the Judge Castro and Prosecutor Horrach from the days of the big anti-corruption cases. "In fact, they had a dinner at which a friend of mine was present. Judge Penalva himself said that he had a more important case on his hands than the 'Nóos case'."
The new prosecutor in the case, Tomás Herranz, publicly apologised to him on the last day of the trial. "For me, this was a huge surprise. There was immense joy that, before beginning the last day of the trial, Judge Samantha Romero approached all the defendants who were gathered in the courtyard and wished us that our lives could be recovered."
As to Penalva, Subirán and the four National Police officers, he wants justice to be done, so that it prevents the same thing happening again.
He explains that he has had to sell 70% of his assets to pay off the debts brought about by the case and the pandemic. "Financially, I find myself in a difficult situation. But I think I'll get out of it. Before my arrest I had 1,700 employees and now there are 600. Which says much." There were 27 companies and now there are four, and he is determined to keep hold of three - MegaPark, MegaSport and BCM.
