‘Accountant to gangsters’ to fight extradition to Spain

A retired accountant accused of involvement in a massive timeshare scam ran by late gangster John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer will fight extradition to Spain later this month. Paul Blanchard, 73, is said to have helped criminals in the Canary Isles launder and invest their ill-gotten cash between 1999 and 2001. Palmer, who was murdered at his gated home near Brentwood, Essex in June 2015, was jailed for eight years in 2001 for ripping off 17,000 sunseekers in the UK’s biggest ever…