Police seek seventh in intimidation scam

October 26, 2006  •  Uncategorized  •  0 Comments

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POLICE have confirmed a seventh
person is wanted in connection
with an alleged case of
real estate intimidation in
Granada.

Six people were arrested earlier
this month after an elderly
couple had complained to
police they were being forced
out of the flat they have lived
in for the last 35 years.

Police are investigating claims
the six – who include two
lawyers and

the manager of a
real estate company – tried to
force out the residents of a
block of flats in the Zaidín
area of the city to sell the
property at a high price to a
construction company.

The owner of the block of flats
and two Romanian nationals,
who were allegedly among 30
people employed to intimidate
the residents of number 17 Callejón Angel, were also held.

The seventh person police
want to question is believed to
be a Granada resident who
acted as guarantor for the two
Romanians when they signed
a rental contract to live in a
flat on the third floor of the
block in 2004.

According to the elderly couple,
the two Romanians soon
had up to 28 countrymen living
with them who subjected
existing residents to physical
and verbal abuse. Many were
forced to move away, complaining
of the harassment,
noise and dirt that had accumulated
in the block.

The only remaining residents
are the elderly couple, both
84, and a 78-year-old neighbour,
all of whom pay a low
rent fixed by law each month.
Police are also investigating
claims those arrested are part
of a network dedicated to forcing
people who live in prime
locations of a town or city to
leave their homes. The block
of flats is metres away from
the congress palace near the
centre of Granada.

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