Police seek seventh in intimidation scam

October 26, 2006  •  Crime & Law, Granada  •  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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