Rob Horgan
AN estate agent has vanished leaving dozens of expats up to a million euros out of pocket.
Dutch realtor Annika Elena van der Pluijm is alleged to have taken deposits of at least €750,000 on properties before disappearing with the money.
The group of mostly Dutch and British buyers have now been forced to take legal action after the company office, in Almanzora, Almeria, closed without warning.
They have also launched a Facebook page ‘Catch these scammers’ in a bid to locate van der Pluijm, who has also been using the name Ana Sanchez.
Victims of her agency Inmobiliaria Partaloa told the Olive Press that ‘at least six’ official denuncias have been filed with police so far.
One British victim, who asked not to be named, insisted they would ‘not rest until she is caught’.
“She has ruined so many lives,” said the 55-year-old, who is currently renting in nearby Cuevas de Almanzora. “So many of us have lost our savings to this scam.”
He has lost €9,500, while the group together has lost over €750,000.
“And more and more victims keep coming forward so we expect it to go up rapidly,” he continued. “We are set to launch a joint action against Annika shortly.”
The Olive Press has discovered that Ana’s German husband Thomas van der Pluijm – AKA Thomas Dollekes – has also not been seen since the end of January.
Both he and the couple’s two young sons and her parents have all vacated the big rural property they were sharing in La Hoya, near Cantoria.
Over a dozen Presa Canario dogs, which they breed, have also been removed from the property.
The couple are understood to have ‘business interests’ in France and Hungary with group members believing she has skipped the country.
Ironically, Van der Pluijm publicly supported our K.O. the Kickbacks campaign to stop the practice of backhanders being taken between lawyers and agents, declaring herself as an
‘ethical estate agent’.
However, when the Olive Press attempted to contact her this week she failed to respond to emails and her phone was switched off.
Caveat emptor – as always. Estate Agents and lawyers in virtually countries are untrustworthy. Ironically in the Netherlands she could not have pulled these scams. The Dutch, like the Germans have ironclad systems.
In the Spanish property market, why would anyone think it was nec. to put down a deposit on anything. First – see the escritura, check that money is put into a bona fide escrow account, when I say SEE, I mean SEE it done, any blagging or b/s – walk away, there are so many properties on the market.
I’ll bet the Dutch are mad, maybe they have assumed that because the woman was Dutch, she would act legitimately as if she was doing business back home.
just follow the money trail. Her bank will know exactly what happened to the money and where it went to. Once she has been blacklisted in EU its just a matter of time before her new bank in whatever country she is in flags it and inter-pool is contacted. There is always the one bad apple that thinks she is being clever, when in the fact is that its impossible not to get caught in this scenario since there is a clear transfer trail.
“Ethical estate agent” I believe that is known as an oxymoron.
Alex, you can’t follow the money trail if it is now in cash, over time she could quite easily have laundered large sums via friends/family for a fee, there is no ‘clear transfer trail’ in that case.
She will likely be in the ABC or SSS Islands of the Dutch Caribbean, with the money safely buried in the ground. She will also change her name yet again, marry someone rich and take his name and then inherit his wealth when she pushes him off his yacht. The mistake she will make will be to have a memorable ID with new passport .D.O.B. etc however she will get caught out on a gaff but the money will probably never be found.
Deposits are always paid in escrow, or to a neutral third party, and never to the agent, as Stuart mentioned. Once again, this is just a scam that flourishes in a country where anyone and their dog can become an estate agent. Spain has a tendency to corrupt people in this way because the systems are so weak and unfortunately people are too trusting. If you are purchasing a property, remember to never, ever, give any money to the agent themselves. Elena van der Pluijm will be in custody in a relatively short time I would wager.
Why was my post in reply to Alex deleted, it was completely factual. I expect this post will be deleted as well – not much neutrality in the OP these days. Be nice to see a rational reason for the deletion.
It was possibly caught by our spam filters Stuart. Can you post your comment again?
De berichten zijn al een jaar oud,maar mevr Anika Elana van de Pluijm vertoefd in Nederland , ik heb haar adres en ik heb aangifte gedaan bij de politie,graag kontakt met pers.die zijn opgelicht