GoldFinger’s Spanish friends tell him that all is not well at Pictet’s operation in the country.

It seems as though the chief executive of the Swiss private bank's Spanish branch has been taken into custody along with a celebrity flamenco singer in the wake of a money laundering and corruption scandal.

According to the Spanish online magazine, El Confidencial the Spanish police arrested Fernando de Salinas Mila, head of the Madrid bureau of the Pictet & Cie last Thursday. The bank executive is implicated in a political and financial scandal that has rocked Spain in recent months.

The Swiss newspaper 24 heures reports that Mr Mila is suspected of laundering money through “Switzerland and Gibraltar” on behalf of the former mayor of Marbella, Julian Munoz, who is currently in prison.

Mr Munoz's former partner, the well known Spanish flamenco singer, Isabel Pantoja, was also arrested in connection with this affair.

Apparently this money laundering and corruption scandal centres on the exclusive seaside resort of Marbella. The police inquiry, called “operation Malaya,” has led to the questioning of 100 people in less than a year. To date police officers have seized close to SFr3 billion in cash and real estate.

Meanwhile, all references to Mr Mila have been deleted from Pictet's website.

He joined the Geneva-based private bank in 2002 as director of marketing for southern Europe and was appointed as head of Pictet's Spanish branch two years ago as the bank expanded its wealth management activities in Spain.

Pictet has released the following statement: "Pictet is pleased to announce that our staff member Fernando de Salinas Milas was released without bail by the Spanish legal authorities late last Friday afternoon (May 4).

Pictet & Cie reaffirms its trust and confidence in Fernando de Salinas Mila, who will continue in his role as head of private-banking services for our banking subsidiary in Madrid, a function he has been holding since 2005. It has also been confirmed that Pictet & Cie is in no way involved in the facts which were investigated, which go back to 2003. Indeed, Mr de Salinas was questioned by the judge in his personal capacity."