Antonio Flores’ Blog

I make no disguise that, professionally, I am closely connected to property, therefore this post, to many, will have limited significance due to obvious bias. If I was however to collate my experiences over the years, good and bad, when dealing in real estate in Spain, and I compare them with how transactions are conducted these days, I would necessarily conclude that it is now safer than ever to invest in property in Spain.

The crisis has operated like an unstoppable tsunami that has swept right across the property market, sucking in its wake dodgy agents, opportunistic developers, corrupt town hall officials, crooked mortgage brokers (like the one that conned Banesto out of a few millions) and a handful of funny lawyers. And with them, a myriad of very questionable anti-property purchaser practices that had dangerously became close to standard, in spite of almost everyone living, directly or indirectly, on these bona fide consumers or investors. It may be convenient to enumerate these unethical antics, by trades, to keep things in perspective.

We must remember that:

1. Never again should anyone pay any monies to a developer unless a bank guarantee or an insurance policy is available…, obvious isn’t it? More the point is that, realistically, insurance companies will never touch advance off-plan property payments and banks are likely to request unthinkable amounts of collateral. The immediate consequence of this is that only the very cash-strong will be able to develop and this is just good news.
2. Never again should anyone pay monies to a developer who:
   
   1. Does not own the land (Citrus Europe Ltd.)
   2. Does not have a building license (Aifos)
   3. Cannot give bank guarantees (not enough space in this post to name them),
   4. Uses the deposits for a Murcia development to run a complex in Venezuela (Proyectos Antele S.L.)
   5. Uses a bent-as-hell agent as a deposit-collector who then ends up keeping them (Grupo Mirador and Palmera Properties/Gotardo)
   6. Runs away with the portion of the purchase price, earmarked for cancelling the loan on your property, to Germany (Abacon Delta S.L.)
   7. Sells a half built complex to a third party and does not refund (Citrus Playa Macenas S.L. and Ready2Invest )
   8. Takes 60 deposits for an Almeria development to a UK company and then dissolves it (again, Citrus Europe Ltd.)
   9. Or all of those together plus sets up a Ponzi scheme, is known to have never built one property in his entire life in spite of claiming, at a fastouos ceremony, to have erected no less than 6,000 in the Costal del Sol, even persuading gullible Prince Albert to believe such bullshit!  (Sun Golf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A. or Mr. Ricardo Miranda Miret).
3. Never again will developers bully buyers as they were used to doing, as for example La Reserva de Marbella S.A. were experts at. I always wondered why was it that when you bought an apartment for €200,000 you were almost expecting to be treated like s**t, but if you went for a meal you were the king if you tipped handsomely…
4. Never again will developers make you sign a private purchase contract for 70% of its real price, the balance of 30% to be paid to a Switzerland account, in advance, undocumented and, of course, never to be reflected on the private purchase sale deeds…(any ideas?? :))
5. Very unlikely (never say never) will a Socialist/Communist Government, regional or otherwise, allow licenses to be granted on thousands of properties only to later, due to political opportunism and a spate of much publicized corrupt Town Hall officials arrests (which I agree with but without the cameras), instigate the revocation of almost all of these licenses, promote demolitions, warn of impending heavy fines on everyone, including the bona fide owners and, in sum, scare the hell out of thousands of those owners plus an undetermined number of potential investors in Spain.

With all we know now in respect of the degrees of criminality so many property developers ran into, an off-plan property industry that is almost non-existent (good old Taylor-Wimpey seems the only one around) and the property-associated corruption almost disappearing, the very few developers that are still around will no doubt jump through hoops to ensure that only la creme de la creme will be sold, at the right price of course!

Antonio Flores Litigation, Property, Scams Abacon Delta S.L., Aifos, Citrus Europe Ltd, Citrus Playa Macenas S.L., Grupo Mirador, Jesus Gotardo, La Reserva de Marbella S.A., Palmera Properties, Proyectos Antele S.L., Ready2Invest, Ricardo Miranda Miret, Sungolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A, Taylor-Wimpey

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

It could have not gone better: in the space of 24 hours we had managed to meet up with members of the Northern Ireland Executive, deliver the proposal (PDF), be interviewed by the BBC and the Ulster TV, and even catch a flight back on time, not before downing a couple of good local beers.

If the Northern Ireland Government decides to adhere to our proposal, which they will carefully consider in the next couple of months, it will be the first time –that we know of- that an autonomous government supports, in visible way (rather than with well-intentioned words devoid of any practical consequence), a large group of consumers defrauded in a failed property investment scheme.

Antonio Flores Litigation, Property Ocean View Properties, OVP, 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

We have just learnt from a letter published on the Ocean View Properties on belegal.com thread that Ricardo Miranda Miret has been issued with an arrest warrant by the Courts of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic).

This comes as no surprise since his dealings have been obscure and manifestly fraudulent, but one would have thought that the choice of country, the Dominican Republic, and his supposedly good connections with the President of the country and, it would appear as well with Monaco’s Prince Albert (unless the photos have been manipulated), should have been enough to ensure immunity and, more irritatingly, impunity.

But since the above, albeit crucial for the people who invested at Punta Perla, seems still far away and relates to the dealings of Miranda Miret and the previous owners of the land (one of which, CCF21 Inversiones S.L., lost a property via public auction to a client of ours), we have now been made privvy to classified information containing proof of transfers between Sungolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A., Paraiso Tropical, Punta Perla Caribbean Ltd. and Miret’s personal account.
We cannot disclose the source of the leak nor the full document but will say that it is a report dated the 17th of August 2006 released by La Caixa Savings Bank on petition of the SEPBLAC (Servicio Ejecutivo de Comision de Prevencion de Blanqueo de Capitales e Infracciones Monetarias), which is the Spanish Anti-Money Laundering Office, investigating the largest corruption case ever seen in a Spanish Court (Operacion Malaya).

This report is important, for it specifies the routes taken by millions of USD that left the UK and Spain to different recipients in Spain, the US, Gibraltar, the Dominican Republic and Mr. Miret’s personal account.

SunGolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A Deposit 1

SunGolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A Deposit 2

Paraiso Tropical Deposit

The one thing that struck me when reading is that I could not see any names of builders, Spanish town halls (or Moroccan for that matter), architects, building surveyors, lawyers and generally anyone habitually connected to property developing, even though taxes were paid (but what for?!).

On the contrary we can see the following:

• Paraiso Tropical S.A., which is the company that owns the Punta Perla land, and which is the subject of the fraud court case in the Dominican Republic.
• Sungolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.L., which is the company that purportedly intended to develop a resort of over 300 units in Estepona (Estepona Beach and Country Club) and which not only did it not purchase the land or applied for planning permission, but in fact shipped the millions to the owners of Paraiso Tropical, a sugar producing company called Central Romana Corporation, cash in hand and till today unknown individuals never related with the business of property developing.
• Berkeley Property Investments S.L., which is showing today as still owned by Sean Woodhall and administered by Nicholas Stewart Wood (presumably from Grant Thornton, OVP insolvency administrators).
• Central Romana Corporation, which is a sugar manufacturer based in the Dominican Republic.
• Hallard Investments Limited, which is a company based at Grosvenor Street, number 17, London.
• Inversiones CFF S.A., which was one of the shareholders of Paraiso Tropical S.A. allegedly dupped by Mr. Miranda Miret according to the court ruling issuing the arrest warrant.
• Cash in hand, which was taken out and presumably spent on expensive restaurants and clubs, business lunches, gifts and presents, call girls (according to one source) and any other unrelated-to-property-developing activities.

I feel that I have now done enough, and not because I have other work to do (which I have) but because I am limited to what info I can pick up by spending hours in front of my desktop, a few contacts and this blog (and more importantly, the belegal.com forum). It is now up to individuals who have lost their money to team up, put names and amounts on a piece of paper, get qualified legal representation and file a suit, because it is only then when will the national Governments, with their unlimited resources and power, be forced to do something and find out where and with whom did each pound paid towards a dream homes end up.

Antonio Flores Litigation, Property Berkeley Property Investments S.L, Inversiones CFF S.A., Paraiso Tropical S.A., Punta Perla Caribbean Ltd, Ricardo Miranda Miret, Sungolf Desarrollo Inmobiliario S.A

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