Las Torrentas: Another Example of a Typical Award Winning Property Fiasco
It is not unusual for the build up of a property fiasco to start like this:
… at a glittering awards ceremony held at the London Marriot in Grosvenor Square on Friday 4th of November, The Harrial Group representing the Las Torrentas Development won the best architecture (Whole Development) in the Bentley International Property Awards- the world’s biggest and most important property event”
It then gathers momentum with abundant advertorial news articles where the development receives the highest praises for being the best of its kind…on the drawing board.
The proponents of Las Torrentas, a 150 home development in the Spanish countryside town of Calasparra, The Harrial Group S.L. were directors Linda and Andrew Jones, a couple from Abergavenny, South Wales. And so excited they were that they convinced the mayor of this small agricultural town, if persuasion was at all required, to meet Abergavenny Town Council with a view to establishing a new twinning relationship between the Spanish and Welsh towns.
And then the Jones’, in a fit of hysterical excitement probably fuelled by the sums of unsecured deposits that were being transferred to their accounts by trusting purchasers, and the underserved and silly Bentley award, got confident and wrote a letter stating, among other things, that “about 15 years ago, when my husband Andrew and I started investing in property, we were shocked by the low standards of some developers”
Well, 15 years on, shocked-turned-shocking Andrew and Linda Jones have done a runner with other people’s money and are keeping a low profile, hiding presumably in Abergavenny.
Due diligence carried out on the development reveals the following:
- The Harrial Group Spain S.L. never had planning permission on the plot(s), and yet they confirmed that completion would take place on the first six months of 2008. On the 6th of May 2006 a public announcement on the official local gazette declared a period of 30 days for submission of allegations in respect of the proposed Las Torrentas project, indicating that once this stage is over, a report on ecological impact assessment will be drawn up with a view to determine the convenience of approving the project and if positive, the conditions under which it is to be carried out. The project has now been indefinitely shelved.
- The Harrial Group Spain S.L. never provided bank guarantees to their customers. Clearly, when the funds were taken by the developer, he knew or should or could have known that the probability of the project stalling was very high, and yet chose to exchange contracts, request payment and fail to provide a bank guarantee.
- The Harrial Group Spain S.L. has never filed company accounts with the Companies House (Alicante), since it was first created (!), which is indicative of business malpractice and lack of activity.
- The Harrial Group Spain S.L. entry with the Companies House has been cancelled due to not having submitted tax returns, with date 19/07/2001, which is indicative of business malpractice and lack of activity.
- Press and media: What dealings did the Jones’ have with the Calasparra Town Hall are unknown, but a payment of €160,000 was made so that they would reclassify enough land to build 150 villas in an area considered of high ecological value given the presence of river rats, partridges and other animals as well as local agricultural land.
- And what about the development plot? All we have found is half acre of arable land suitable for…rice-growing.
Conclusions to be drawn from this:
- The Jones’, infamously advised by local lawyers, have misappropriated others peoples monies and could face prison terms in application of current jurisprudence where a property developer has not guaranteed the down payment nor has offered a refund.
- Stay well away from Bentley International Property Awards awardees, just in case.
- Always have a disclaimer opportunistically stating that “we do not hold responsibility for any errors and we cannot be held reliable directly or indirectly for any loss whatsoever”. You can then add, for full protection, something along the lines of “we are entitled to take your monies and run, and shall not be held responsible for not looking back”.
Abergavenny Chronicle: “the Mayor of Calasparra, Jesus Navarro Jimenez, was present in the awards and later visited South Wales as a guest of Linda and Andrew Jones”. Was his flight, food and acommodation paid by the Jones’?
You are so right about the build up to a property fiasco!
Finca Parcs was launched in 2004 with a star studded reception at Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC.
In 2006, despite not a brick being laid – Las Higuericas by Finca Parcs, won an International Property Award – Homes in Spain sponsored by the BBVA Group – Spanish Property Awards 2006 – 4 Stars – Best Development Albacete.
As you say, this then adds to the momentum with the ‘Awards Flag’ being used on the brochures, advertising etc etc……
So Finca Parcs launched in 2004, prestigious property award in 2006, abandoned by the developer in 2009 as ‘financially unviable’.
Millions of euros of off-plan deposits ‘missing’……..
Kind regards
Keith
Keith, I sometimes wonder whether criminal action in your case would have been preferred, given that allegedly, millions were embezzled. We will be publishing a new blog post with hard evidence (bank account statement) showing the flow of money going in, directly from the solicitors dealing with the customers, and the transfers going out that left it depleted, for hundreds of thousands.
The developer claims he used it for building-related purposes. The only cost we have identified as being associated with such purpose is a payment to the company providing the diggers to move earth around.
This has been a scam of immense proportions, no different from what some banks have done.
This is completely absurd. You are obviously completely unaware of the property market in spain and have obviously used wikipedia or something of the sort as a source for your information and hence you have yourself an unreliable source. You have clearly attempted to climb the social ladder by digging at ‘failed’ companies, which are not ‘failed’ at all, the planning permission has not been received. By digging at companies in order to climb that clearly ever so important social ladder you have just proved yourself to be utterly unprofessional and i cannot imagine people will trust you in the future. I suggest in future that before you create posts on your blog that you get your facts correct and really indulge into the real evidence behind these so-called ‘failed’ companies and understand the situation from more than your side. You are showing a clear lack of professionalism by committing an act of deformation of character online.
Sarah,
The first part of the post is open to comment and it may be liked, disliked or ignored. The second part is fait accompli because it is an objective description of the case.
If this developer was so professional, he would have not run with other people’s monies: serious property developers that do not develop do not use deposits to fund lifestyles, they return them. A bent property developer on the contrary speculates with other peoples monies, and lives, and does not care one iota about clients’ protection: this one of such cases.
I think you have found yourself in a situation that you really have no idea what you are talking about. I think that you should spend some time investigating this case more thoroughly as you have not given any clear facts about this so called ‘case’. I think that you have demonstrated a true meaning on unprofessional by posting a somewhat ‘bitchy’ blog post, which is by far an understatement. I think that you should in future consider the developers circumstance and make more of an effort to understand what you are talking about truly, rather than hiding behind a computer screen which is simply just cowardly. I would be extremely concerned if i was one of your customers. I think that you should maybe look at the positives of Linda and Andrew Jones and really understand how far this couple have come and how much of an inspiration they are. You are clearly a rather insecure human being that is only able to climb that social ladder by talking badly of other people. I cannot even imagine how this will affect you in the long term.
Sarah,
I respect your position as you seem somehow attached to Linda and Andrew Jones. I obviously do not share it.
Can you spare a thought or two for those who trusted Linda and Andrew, paid them very large sums of money believing that it would be secured by means of a bank guarantee and now have absolutely nothing?
Sarah,
If you can help broker an out-of-Court settlement, rather than try to kill the messenger, everyone will benefit. I´ll leave it to you in case you choose to assist.
If Linda and Andrew had committed these ‘crimes’ then they would be in jail, which they are not. So hence you are clearly incorrect and have made points that you are unable to back up with truthful factual information. You clearly have not met Linda and Andrew and therefore i think you should not just ‘judge a book by its cover’ or some obviously incorrect information that you have been given. That money is tied up in the attempt to gain planning permission, which is quite frankly, no fault of Linda and Andrew, the clients are aware of this, so please refrain from getting involved in a situation that does not involve you. I would appreciate it if you would remove this page from your blog as it is utterly pathetic.
Sarah,
We have been hired to recover the deposit, not to find out whether Linda and Andrew are nice people.
The money is not tied up to the attempt to gain planning permission, that is a fundamentally false statement. The money was paid to Linda and Andrew and they have, after knowing they could not build, allegedly missappropiated it. Whether they intended to do it as a preconceived plan is a different matter but it is clear they have used it as if it were profit, dividend or a salary, without contemplating returning it.
The blog you are writing in serves the purpose of informing the public about situations foreign people find themselves in, when in Spain.
Finally, we must add that Linda and Andrew conducted their commercial affairs in Spain in a manner that exuded an aura of complete incompetence, as one can see when looking at the Companies House records.
The consequences of this can still be mitigated if they so wish.
“so called specialist – please read with caution ”
I write to remind anyone reading these types of blogs to read with caution
the information ” the headlines” can seem very convincing and portrays the writer as an authority on the legal process in this matter to property and land law . however when you check further they often specialise in all other areas of “general law” and take on clients as they come along .
these “specialist” self promoters start by showing a couple of short crabbing headliners (lacking of detail )adding some information about there qualifications and background in order to build their readers confidence .
very few produce an actual list of cases or details to show their results , time lines and the fees charged for unresolved matters and lost cases.
having read the “advert” and feeling confident you may decide to call or email the specialist because of their convincing ” sales pitch ” and usually after your first make contact you are left a strong feeling you have a very positive case which can be proven and produce you a positive outcome and relief from the anxiety you may feel.
however in nearly every case I have known never does the specialist offer to produce for you any kind of project plan for the case ,confirmed timeline , fixed cost fee structure and they will never work for a no win no fee basis ,why because that cant do it as theirs no insurance to cover for such claims and the specialist cant afford to take the loss if all goes wrong . all you receive is a promise that they will act swiftly and accordingly to bring the matter to the negotiating table or to court ,
be very aware not to use a Spanish lawyer directly ( or other overseas lawyers for that matter ) to make a property purchase for you as there are different laws and much less opportunity for recourse when or if they get it wrong use a British lawyer as they are bound by rules and regulation of the law society offering protection if things do go wrong .I am sure that is why these specialist are so busy trying to undo the issues of clients persuaded to use less professional overseas lawyers and contracts
most of these specialist are excellent in the art of letter writing (a good set of standard letters to start with ) they convey confidence to you the plaintiff and hope that the defendant will engage quickly and at best just “coff “up enough to keep you the client off there backs and to claim a result case closed ! you then hopefully get a result of some sort ,nothing near what you expected or was suggested based on the specialist first discussion
however at this stage you have loaded up the firms account with enough funds to meet their revenue and new client targets whilst the carry on with their other day to day stuff
in terms of time and return on investment it is very low having taken off the specialist fees but if you feel you got a result and can move on
or
you are persuaded or decide to stick your heals in and again a few months later you end up with very little progress made and your being asked to stack up further bigger funds to carry on and get matters to court still with no guaranteed prospects so your back where you started very concerned and left to make even more choices
if your on minded to go for it then you may get offered to try a few out of the box tricks your specialist has up their sleeve to try and get things moving by more threatening letters or using publicly to embarrass the company into submission however ( by wary of this strategy ) this can often backfire and the company then sticks its heals in and conveys its disappointment by putting you at the back of the queue because your specialist actions has now suddenly caused a cash flow issue to the company and there now no way to repay you in the short term
your new choices
do you find someone else another “specialist” ( but you’ve gone so far with this one and he still seems to be giving the right vibes as long as the fees keep coming !)
or
drop out and write off the fees paid and the investment to stop the bleeding and move on
meanwhile a dozen others have been lured in and its on to the next claim for the specialist
before engaging the specialist try asking these questions and see what response you get
ask if its ok to record all discussions and interviews for future reference ?
to have a written and detailed project plan with proposed outcomes ? if they are taking up the case
they surely have a plan and outcome strategy which they could share
for details of how many of the cases they have on their books at one time ?
how many they have the lost and won and what the financial results were ? fees v compensation
what percentage of their daily business is spent in the area similar to your matter
do they practice in general law also or do the they only take on clients in this field of their expertise ?
request details or the governing bodies they are bound by in case of issues
further
it is very unusual to self promote in this way and can seem a little desperate
providing only a headline grabbing statements without any real substance to the content and story lines ,some would say its un professional and others nothing more opportunity to create fast self promotion enticing readers some desperate for some confidence if they are suffering from property purchase or investment that not turned out as expected . I would be of huge interest see sight of the funds these claimed experts have been able to amass during this lucrative and opportunistic time of property market downturns . people desperate to get out of the investment they made ( when things were good ) many of these blogs claims are un substantiated and I suspect very few cases are taken up without a substantial fee upfront basis or have been seen through to satisfactory conclusion leaving many clients even more out of pocket
there is no substance in what is described in these ” stories headlined ” here and the publicising of letters between solicitors is very irresponsible and improper together with the added note about how the specialist is excluded from recourse for the statements he makes regarding ready to buy matter
in conclusion if you seek legal advice of any kind you should without fail complete your due diligence on the legal practice or specialist you use ,the cases they have actually managed or concluded before parting with your cash . like promoters these specialist gear up they companies to take advantage of the exploding market and then when markets turn you find them chasing the buck for new opportunities to ensure that the business survives so they have to change their strategy to find the needs of demanding client by becoming the “specialist” seeking out those new and lucrative opportunities
some of the matters referred too on these blogs relate to investments of off plan investments which are always carry a high risk factor however like many other investors fuelled by the thought of making huge amounts of profit from what was seen as very little risk at the time to only pay or risk a small deposit against the fast growing property prices in Spain at the time together with the ability to sell on the contracts /property either before or after completion seemed too tempting for some
john
Sarah while Andrew and Linda are still in their big house and driving flash cars hard working people have lost money if ANTONIO digs really deep he will prove they are A SCAM one good thing they got a chemical business big house could be sold to help the victims of crime get their money back
Ronnie,
Someone who requests money from the public for an off-plan property investment and has no planning permission, offers no bank guarantees and when things go wrong, disappears with clients’ money (deposits for the purpose of building property!) without giving an plausible explanation, it is easy to conclude that scam has been perpetrated.
The Courts are currently trying to notify the defendants are they are clearly avoiding any collaboration with Spanish justice.
specialist lawyer
can you please update for you audience on how you got on with this matter ?
how have your clients fared after all this time ?
how much have received in upfront payments from your clients to date ?
John,
This matter has now been transferred from the criminal Courts to the civil Courts, as a result of the inability or unwillingness of some Spanish judges to pursue -criminally- these type of situations. This said, it so happens that during the proceedings the defendant produced a bank guarantee sample that was issued for a different customer, a scenario that benefits our customers since the bank should have issued guarantees to every off-plan buyer, inclusive of our customers, and thus have a fiduciary duty towards them.
A case is now underway against the bank guaranteeing this development.
Andrew jones has now been fined for fly tipping
https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/23807963.fly-tipper-fined-blighting-countryside-ebbw-vale/
He is disgusting