Zoë Dahse
THE real estate macro-scam of Lujo Casa began its trial today, with the understanding that sessions will be held in July and September.
The start of the trial was postponed in May after the main defendant, who faces 16 years in prison and a payment of fines of more than 466,000 euros, asked for more time to prepare his strategy.
Carlos Garcia Roldan has been on provisional release with precautionary measures since he was released from prison in December 2022.
He had previously served four years of preventive detention after he was arrested in Colombia.
The crimes he is accused of, alongside seven other defendants, include aggravated fraud, falsehood, criminal group activities, insolvency and money laundering.
The company, Promociones Lujo Casa Baleares, carried out false real estate developments by publicly offering the sale of homes.
The group would use photographs of other people´s developments and of 32 developments they advertised in different parts of the island. As the prosecutor pointed out, only seven plots of these developments had in actual fact been acquired and none had been built.
The group allegedly defrauded 235 victims, with a total of 3.3 million euros being diverted. Victims of the fraud believed that they were actually making reservation contracts to buy a flat.
This sum of money has not been recovered to this day. The money was transferred to the accounts of Promociones Lujos Casa, and then over to the accounts of several people involved. The money of the victims was then used to pay the salaries of fictitious workers and on restaurants, company services and casinos.
When buyers made complaints about homes not being delivered and asked for explanations, they received excuses from the group.
Garcia Roldan fled to Colombia and was subsequently arrested in 2019 by the Guardia Civil and the Colombian Police, before being sent to Spain.
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