British buyers take housing developer to court

Grupo Mirador and agency Palmera Properties both charged with fraud

A MÁLAGA court has charged one of the biggest construction companies in Andalucía with fraud.

The move comes after a group of 20 British nationals complained that the homes they had made down payments upon have gone unfinished.

Now, the two managing directors of constructors Grupo Mirador – brothers Enrique and Leopoldo Faura – will declare in front of judges on January 24 on charges of fraud.

Also charged was agency Palmera Properties, which was marketing the three-bedroom terraced houses.

The charges relate to the 90-home Mirador de Fuente Piedra complex near Antequera.

In April 2003, the group of 20 buyers paid deposits of up to 88,000 euros each on the off-plan property.

Five years later, the group has not yet taken ownership of their homes.

As part of the agency fee, Palmera Properties – which also marketed an uncompleted housing complex in La Alpujarra (see the Olive Press, issue 37, Only Ghosts will Live There) – retained a commission of 3,500 euros when the clients made their initial down payments.

During the investigation, judges heard how the clients were offered a banker’s guarantee – a surety that protects the buyer in case homes go unfinished – with the Panama-based Caja Hipotecaria Centro Sur, which is currently under sanction by the Bank of Spain.

Fuente de Piedra mayor Cristóbal Fernández, the municipal architect and council secretary have been ordered to appear as witnesses.