Antonio Flores’ Blog

The SunGolf and Ocean View Property scandal has now hit the headlines, just where it should have been long time ago. But whether this is portrayed as a struggle between two powerful property developing lobbies fighting to control the Dominican turf (Ricardo Miranda on the one side and Sanchez & Lietor on the other), as some wish to put it, the reality is that still over 120 British and Irish property investors are out of pocket through no fault of their own, and no one takes one bit of responsibility.

Mr. Miranda accuses me of perverting the truth in pursuit of media relevance and yet, he does not address the questions raised many times over.

Mr. Miranda accuses me of perverting the truth in pursuit of media relevance and yet, he does not address the questions raised many times over.

It is my understanding that both the President of the Dominican Republic and Monaco Prince Albert, lending their presence to endorse a ghost development, should be held responsible for losses sustained by investors who, having relied on their international prestige when choosing to invest in Punta Perla, are now out of pocket. Their irresponsibility when carrying out appropriate due diligence on the records of Mr. Miranda who, as been published, claimed to have successfully built thousands of properties on the Costa Del Sol (which is false), has to be attributable to a mix of poor advice and, perhaps, succulent incentives.

Some headlines

• Dominican President, Monaco Prince named in Spain “macrofraud” case – 18 February 2011 – Dominican Today
• Northern Ireland home buyers sue British real estate agents for Estepona fraud – 17 February 2011 – Typically Spanish

• Británicos afectados por una macroestafa inmobiliaria presentan una querella – 17 February 2011 – El Mundo
• Un centenar de familias británicas denuncian a un promotor por una supuesta estafa inmobiliaria – 17 February 2011 – Diario Sur
• Casi cien familias extranjeras se querellan contra una promotora marbellí por una estafa de 4,5 millones – 17 February 2011 – Europa Press
• Palacio niega tribunal España citara a  Leonel como testigo  litis – 17 February 2011 – El Nacional (Dominican Republic)
• Ricardo Miranda dice acusación busca crear escándalo mediático – 17 February 2011 – Diario Digital (Dominican Republic)
• Unos 70 extranjeros acusan a un promotor de estafa en Estepona – 18 February 2011 – La opinion de Malaga
• Un juez investiga una estafa masiva a británicos en la Costa del Sol – 18 February 2011 -El Pais

Antonio Flores Litigation, Property, Scams Estepona Beach and Country Club, Ocean View Properties, OVP, Punta Perla, Ricardo Miranda Miret, Sungolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A

My recent trip to Northern Ireland could have not ended in a better way: being able to enjoy the stunning beauty of the Northern Irish countryside, mountains and beaches. Strapped to a 4-seater chopper, owned by one young and successful would-be client, we followed the circular route starting off at Ulster Airfield, over Belfast city, across the country side and over the Mourne mountains (no wonder are partly owned by the Natural Trust), the 5-mile long Murlough Beach, returning alongside the coastline of Antrim (where dive-hunting seagulls and even sea-lions could be spotted, or so I thought them to be, as well as countless Saturday beach-strollers).

The underlying motive for my motive is less indulging, as I was meeting 70 or so failed investors who, owing to the combined efforts of Ocean View Properties, Sun Golf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.L., it’s alleged fraudulent pyramid Ponzi Scheme and, sadly, a few thoroughly bent lawyers, had been ripped off in different degrees of gravity (one investor in particular paid €850,000).

Notwithstanding the economical adverse circumstances, a total loss of confidence in the legal system as a whole (both in the UK and Spain) and an ever-present desire to put this traumatic episode behind them, 2 organized groups decided to formally fight for their rights. Among them, my host for the helicopter trip who will, if I can convince him that we will not be shot down, spearhead an airborne assault on the HQ offices of Sun Golf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.L. in Madrid after a quick visit to Monaco’s Prince Albert, whose arms helped break the ground on the Punta Perla development (or bluff).

If only NI had the Dominican weather, none of this would have happened. If you don’t believe it, see for yourself: can you really spot the difference between Punta Perla and Murlough Beach?

My next trip to Belfast is scheduled for the 26th of January, when the group representatives and myself will be meeting NI Government officials appointed to act on behalf of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. If we can successfully convince them of the beneficial implications of the NI Government joining the Spanish Court case, both in terms of support for the group action but also on behalf of the NI society in general, we will have achieved a huge result.

Antonio Flores Uncategorized Estepona Beach and Country Club, Lawbird, Ocean View Properties, Punta Perla, Punta Perla Caribbean Ltd, Ricardo Miranda Miret

Soon after we received a court ruling against property developer Manilva Costa S.A. as a consequence of its dealings with the demised real estate agent Ocean View Properties (OVP), we began to receive new enquiries from private purchase contract holders of Estepona Beach and Country Club. Purchasers had been left stranded in this legal limbo, perfectly orchestrated between developer, agent and appointed lawyer, the latter being the more reproachable of the three for his failure to even get a contract signed by someone (yes, monies were paid to Ocean View Properties and contracts sent to the clients to sign, and then never returned to them with an original signature; never mind about bank guarantees… frightening!).

But at least though, Manilva Costa S.A. managed to finish the properties, and have a finished product which says something about them, even if the properties were delivered late, specifications did not match the agreed ones on contract, and additional facilities were never built.

What has happened with Estepona Golf & Country Club is similar in its inception, but where the development was meant to go there is a void plot, and of course, as above, no contracts were ever exchanged, no bank guarantees to protect the investment secured, no building license granted and it appears that not even was the plot owned by the developer. Unfortunately for these investors, Spanish lawyers appointed to protect them seemingly worked rather on behalf of the deal, because nothing, except for a receipt, did the clients get.

The consequences are, in principle, that investors are now left with little options to sue on a civil court because they have few or no documents to pursue Sungolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A., the Spanish developer, nor Ocean View Properties, since it is now wound up. So I decided to investigate this matter further, and to my surprise I found an interesting article (in Spanish), where a link is established between the above two companies with the biggest corruption case ever to be started in Spain, Operacion Malaya, and with a development known as Punta Perla, a massive $2.5 billion resort.

According to the Sepblac (Spanish Anti-Money Laundering Specialist Service) Sean Woodhall is the necessary link between the Spanish investors, which include Antonio Roca (the mastermind of the massive Marbella Town Hall corruption ring still in prison), Tomás Olivo (owner of La Cañada commercial center and indicted for money laundering), Carlos Sánchez and Andrés Lietor (both businessmen connected to Roca and also indicted for money laundering), and the Dominican projects. The report also says that Woodhall was fronting Berkeley Property Investments, and was the beneficiary of substantial funds forwarded by Sungolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A, and it refers to a project of 395 units in Estepona it is developing and selling with the assistance of Ocean View Properties (it would appear that Ricardo Miranda Miret, Sungolf director, introduced Woodhall to Carlos Sánchez and defined him as his partner).

If one reads the article and analyses how the whole plan was concocted, it seems clear that there was not the slightest intention to build and sell 395 units in Estepona by either Sungolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A or OVP, respectively, but just to extract €30 million to buy into the Dominican Republic Punta Perla development, which makes this a massive swindle equivalent in size to the Fortuna Land scam although with an international component.

What the Spanish investigators at the time never did was link this money laundering scheme with the Estepona Beach & Country Club scam; pending consultation of the report which we are expecting to get a copy of, it seems that there is sufficient evidence to consider criminal prosecution against Ricardo Miranda Miret, the director of the company at the time (and still is) and its shareholders Rosa María Prado Rubio and Javier Espinosa. The local reporter for El Mundo (largest Spanish newspaper), who incidentally is a client of our firm, has taken a big interest in the matter and we will be meeting him early next week to consider lines of investigation to find out where were the funds paid by buyers for apartments at Estepona Beach & Country Club fraudulently diverted.

Interesting reading:

• Operación Malaya: La Conexión Dominicana (article in Spanish)

Antonio Flores Litigation, Property Andrés Lietor, Antonio Roca, Berkeley Property Investments, Estepona Beach and Country Club, Fortuna Land Scam, Manilva Costa S.A, Ocean View Properties, Operacion Malaya, OVP, Punta Perla, Ricardo Miranda Miret, Sean Woodhall, Sungolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A, Tomás Olivo