A COSTA Blanca gestor recently arrested for fraud has now been accused of failing to pass on thousands of euros in tax payments from expat clients.
Multiple Brits living in the Alicante region have told The Olive Press they hired Matthew Smith, 42, to handle their property taxes after buying homes in the province – but were instead left with fines and debt to Spain’s tax office.
Documents seen by this newspaper show that Smith failed on at least two occasions to pass part or all of the money on to Spanish authorities.
It is just the latest in a string of allegations against Smith and his consultancy business One Way Services, located in Rojales near Torrevieja, dating back at least 2021.
It comes after the administrative adviser and his former partner were arrested in March on suspicion of systematically emptying a retired Brit’s bank account between 2019 and 2022, according to Spanish outlet Informacion.
Both suspects have since been released pending trial.
Cheshire-born Penny Chesters, 56, told The Olive Press she lost her job at an estate agency and was left €8,000 in debt with Spain’s treasury after Smith failed to fully forward her property tax payment in mid-2025.
“[Smith] had helped me change my car over and register as a resident, so I trusted him,” she said.
“So naturally I was horrified when I got up one morning to find the tax office had embargoed my account for €8,000 in penalties.”
The Olive Press has seen a document signed by Smith in which he acknowledges a €10,000 debt to Chesters ‘due to the management and processing of the purchase title deeds.’
Chesters said the clause referred to the purchase of her home on the Orihuela Costa, Alicante, in November 2020.
The expat, who now works in hospitality, said Smith has repaid €7,000 since signing the document on February 2 this year, but then stopped making payments and failed to return her calls.
She added the adviser was still holding the original copies of her house deeds and will, despite Smith claiming not to have them following multiple requests from Chesters’ lawyer.
“I don’t know if he’s lost them or why he won’t give them back, but this is adding insult to injury,” Chesters said.
She has since visited One Way Services’ offices in Quesada, Rojales, to confront Smith, but his secretary told her he was in Switzerland at the time.
The Olive Press has confirmed that Smith travelled to Zurich between June 3 and 8, for the stated purpose of taking part in a darts tournament.
READ MORE: British gestor involved in mass fraud becomes ‘mayor’ of expat urbanisation on Spain’s Costa Blanca
Currently he is back in Spain and One Way Services is open for business.
Meanwhile, further documents show another British couple resident in the area had a similar experience after being recommended to One Way Services two years ago.
A payment slip seen by this paper shows they sent €30,000 to Smith in November 2024 after hiring One Way Services to cover transfer tax on their Rojales property.
The couple, who asked not to be named, said they received no completion paperwork and months later were contacted by a lawyer, who told them 15% transfer tax remained unpaid to the land registry.
When they raised the matter at Smith’s office, he reassured them the tax had been paid, but added he could not provide a receipt because his computer had broken down, the expats said.
They have since received multiple payment requests from the Valencia tax authority, documents show – the latest on June 29 this year, around 19 months after entrusting their property tax money to Smith.
The couple have also reported the incident to the Guardia Civil.
A fourth Brit, who also asked not to be named, told The Olive Press Smith owed them €48,000 after offering to handle their property tax but allegedly failing to forward part of the money to Spain’s tax authority.
The Olive Press could not independently verify this claim.
Approached for comment, Smith’s lawyer Modesto Sanchez Orts said: “There have been a number of administrative and organisational issues; mistakes have been made.
“But [Smith] is dealing with this, he is paying back what he owes little by little. He could not pay everything back straight away because there have been some problems, but he is not hiding from anyone. His office is still open.”
The controversy is the latest in a series of scandals involving Smith dating back to 2021, when he was investigated over allegations he had doctored paperwork to speed up clients’ residency applications.
His lawyer at the time, David Guijarro Mayor of ABC Solicitors, said that Smith was only under investigation and that none of his clients faced charges.
Smith later said via social media that police had brought no charges against him and described the allegations as ‘unfounded.’
He confirmed this to the Olive Press this week, saying he was found innocent of all accusations.
In June 2021, this paper revealed a civil eviction case against Smith at Torrevieja courts, with his landlady Sandra Nicholson claiming he owed her more than €6,000 in unpaid rent.
The figure amounted to more than 12 months of arrears, despite his residency application business reportedly thriving on post-Brexit demand.
Speaking to The Olive Press this week, Smith denied all the historical accusations.
When pressed on these latest allegations, Smith asked for more time to prepare a statement.
In November 2021, despite the earlier controversies, Smith even dabbled in local politics.
Then-Orihuela mayor Emilio Bascuñana appointed Smith as pedaneo (neighbourhood mayor) for the Entre Naranjos urbanisation on Alicante’s Orihuela Costa.
Two years later, he stood as number 11 on the socialist PSOE list for the May 2023 Rojales local elections.
He was subsequently appointed Rojales mayor Antonio Perez’s personal representative for the area’s urbanisations, including Quesada.
However, Perez removed Smith from the role after receiving information that ‘caused concern,’ according to a report by Informacion.
Smith nonetheless continued appearing as a translator at council meetings with Quesada residents alongside Perez, despite the town hall already having an official interpreter.
Informacion reported that the Guardia Civil arrested Smith and his former partner, a 41-year-old woman, on separate dates in Rojales in March this year.
According to the outlet, they are accused of draining €86,000 from the bank accounts of an elderly and vulnerable British man in Almoradi – who had no family in Spain and suffered from health problems – between 2019 and 2022.
Transactions including cash withdrawals, shop payments and transfers to the couple’s own account allegedly continued while the victim was hospitalised and even after his death, the report says.
The alleged fraud only came to light when a UK relative checked his accounts after he died.
Informacion reported Smith has a previous record for similar offences.
Commenting this week on the case, Sanchez Orts clarified that Smith’s former partner was not involved.
He added: “There was no fraud there, this will all be settled in court. All of the transactions are accounted for. It will all be clarified in court.”
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