THREE people have been jailed for nearly 28 years over a €3.3 million real estate scam in Mallorca- the biggest recorded case on the island.
235 victims were conned over 32 bogus property promotions between 2015 and 2018 run by Promociones Lujo Casa under its boss Carlos Garcia Roldan.
Garcia Roldan fled to Columbia and was extradited to Spain in 2019 where he spent almost four years in jail before being bailed.
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The Balearics Provincial Court sentenced the plot ringleader Garcia Roldan, also known as ‘Charly’, to 14 years and nine months behind bars.
He was convicted of fraud, punishable insolvency, money laundering and belonging to a criminal gang.
His partner, Michelle Pilato, got a nine-year sentence, while a builder involved in the scam got four years in prison.
Three others were acquitted by the court.
Promociones Lujo Casa operated from an office in Coll d’en Rabassa.
They offered unsuspecting customers off-plan property sales despite the company having no money or licences to carry out new construction.
The company reeled in potential victims via the internet by using photos of other people’s property promotions and architect images.
They even placed posters and banners on some pieces of land that did not belong to them as part of a ruse to convince buyers that they were genuine.
32 bogus promotions netted 235 victims who parted with deposits of up to 10% for ‘new homes’ in Llucmajor, Marratzi, and Palma
The money ended up in Lujo Casa’s bank account and then laundered- including salary payments to fictitious employees.
Huge amounts of cash were spent on escorts, restaurants, casinos, vehicles, and jewellery.
Buyers who complained about delays in seeing their new homes built were told about hold-ups to building licences.
If a customer threatened to go to authorities about the matter, they were warned that they could lose all of their investment.
A Provincial Court statement said: “The buyers, relying on the appearance of solvency and professionalism created through the establishment of offices open to the public, advertising on real estate portals, posters on plots of land and contractual documentation, delivered amounts on account of the price through transfers, cash deposits and other means of payment.”
“Individual deposits ranged from €5,000 to more than €100,000, totalling more than €3.3 million,” it added.
“This was not a simple real estate project frustrated by economic or administrative issues but a fraudulent structure- designed, refined and maintained over time.”
The court concluded: “There was full knowledge from the start that contracts with the buyers were not going to be fulfilled.”
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