PROPERTY SEARCH

Date Published: 13/06/2022

ARCHIVED - Investigation reveals British victims of Murcia and Alicante scammer could number over a thousand

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

Some Brits in Spain are too worried to call the police “for fear of being thrown out the country” due to UK conman’s 300,000-euro fraud

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Investigation reveals British victims of Murcia and Alicante scammer could number over a thousand

A Brit living in the Murcia area who was nabbed by police in Spain and charged with defrauding 25 British citizens in Murcia and Alicante over residency, TIE and other paperwork may have conned over a thousand people, according to sources.

The alleged fraudster promised his victims, all of them other Brits, that he could side-step Spanish bureaucracy, which was slowed down by the flood of interest from Brits in getting Spanish residency post-Brexit, and streamline residency applications and other official procedures, all for the sum of 500 hundred euros or more.

However, he proceeded to pocket the money without ever doing the work, and it appears he had no inside connection in the foreigners’ office, police station or anywhere else. While police have so-far identified 25 formal victims, an investigation has revealed that the number of Brits who fell victim to this scam may run into the hundreds or even over 1,000.

The man is said to have lived in Fortuna and worked out of an office in Molina de Segura, but also had connections with a consultancy in Pinoso over in Alicante province, which, despite his now being taken into custody, is still open for business.

We put a call out for information on anyone who may have been affected by this purported con artist, who for legal reasons cannot be named, and dozens of readers have come back to us with horror stories of their dealings with this man, having been swindled out of several hundred euros each for paperwork as varied as applying for residency permits, exchanging British driving licences for Spanish licences, putting Spanish plates on a British car and sorting out health insurance, to name a few.

One victim stated, “He said that he knew people who could get them [driving licences, residence cards and TIE cards] bypassing the red tape. The British in Spain faced many changes because of Brexit. The Spanish authorities were unable to cope with the sudden increase in demand. Many people who were doing things legally waited 18 months for their new documents.”

But the scammer offered a faster solution.

While many people have been left in limbo with no compensation, it’s not just the money that is the problem. Without official Spanish residency, some are living illegally in Spain, having exceeded the 90-day limit in 180 faced by non-EU citizens in Spain without visas.

Another victim said that police estimates of how many people he swindled do not reflect the true scale of the fraud, saying there are more than 25 victims in the Fortuna area alone, “some of whom are his own family’s friends”.

The problem is, she said, that “many won’t come forward as they know the parents”, who also live in Fortuna and were apparently in denial about the man’s dealings, saying that the blamed lies with his partners in the consultancy firm and that he was just following orders.

One man who contacted us said that the conman bragged to him about having “dealt with over 1,200 people for the same thing”, which at a conservative estimate of 250 euros per person would mean he has swindled more than 300,000 euros all told.

Another victim, an 80-year-old woman living in Spain, contacted the conman to change her driving licence to a Spanish one. “She submitted her UK licence (which will now be out of date), but she has received nothing… She has also sold a plot of land and static caravan using the firm associated… in Molina and she is out of pocket on that too with the buyer still owing her money.”

Living in limbo

There are multiple reasons why more victims have not come forward. Some are “extremely worried about what will happen” to them, “having not received any documentation”. One woman was said to be “too worried to call the police for fear of being thrown out the country”.

One woman stated that back in November 2020, the man requested that she transfer the money to his personal bank account, but was later informed by a friend that her application was never presented in the first place.

“Now I have to go down the visa route and also have to return to the UK for an interview,” she complained, “and can’t return to Spain until they approve my visa, which has cost me so far over 3,000 euros. And the stress of completing all the paperwork needed has made me very ill!”

Others who have had their lives made a living hell by this man have also been forced to go back to the UK because of the scam.

One man said, “I lost my job in the pandemic and Spain seemed like a refuge. I have a 5-year-old and 10-year-old and we tried to get our residency and hit so many issues (including using the government charity to help us) but couldn’t do it.

“We heard about [this man] and went to him. When we found out that it was a scam we became so despondent we decided to move back to the UK, took the kids out of school, everything.

“Now because of the cost-of-living crisis we are trying to get back to Spain and we’re having to do it all again and don’t know how to go about it or who to speak to.”

What to do if you have been the victim of a scam in Spain

If you fear you have been victim to this conman and want to sort out your Spanish residency, driving licence or other paperwork the legal way, you would be best off approaching a reputable, established gestoría or consultancy firm.

In the meantime, police in Molina de Segura have requested that if anyone suspects they have fallen victim to this scam and has not reported it already, they contact the police at molinasegura.extdoc@policia.es and leave a phone number for them to get back to.

Image: Policía Nacional

Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox

Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)