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Holiday homes bosses accused of huge swindle

June 6th, 2011
Story by FERGAL MACERLEAN | Mail Online

The founder and top executives behind former holiday home giant MRI face legal action in Spain after hundreds of Britons allegedly lost money estimated to amount to £13million.

Dubliner Darragh MacAnthony, who owns Peterborough Football Club, which has just won promotion to the Championship, set up MacAnthony Realty International (MRI) in Marbella as the Millennium began.

Hugely popular on the British market, MRI boasted a £100 million annual turnover before the credit crunch. As well as property development in Spain, MRI marketed villas and apartments in Morocco, Bulgaria and Cape Verde, where the company also arranged furniture supplies.

But now MacAnthony, 35, and his former joint chief executives, Michael Liggan and Dominic Pickering, have been accused of ‘theft by swindle and misappropriation of funds’ in a claim filed in Madrid by 60 British and Irish claimants who say they lost more than half a million pounds in undelivered furniture five years ago.

Lawyer Antonio Flores of Marbella- based property solicitors Lawbird, accused MacAnthony of failing in an obligation to file for insolvency for his Spanish companies.

MacAnthony and his former chief executives have consistently denied any wrongdoing. In relation to the forthcoming claim, MacAnthony, speaking from the US, said: ‘There are no foundations behind these allegations. I certainly didn’t do anything wrong and neither did anyone with MRI when I was there.’

The allegations made in Spain follow what Northern Ireland MP Sammy Wilson described in the House of Commons last year as a property fraud where MRI, or related companies such as MRI Overseas Property, acted as the developer.

The company used programmes on the Property TV Channel hosted by MacAnthony’s younger sister, Wendy, to market holiday homes.

In 2008, as a result of complaints against MRI, a tribunal held by the National Federation of Property Professionals said it was ‘appalled to hear of the company’s misleading business practices’. It issued fines of £5,000 and MacAnthony resigned his membership of the Federation.

Prompted by complaints from British customers, the Serious Fraud Office looked into MRI but took no action. However, it sent alleged victims a letter which said that although it did not intend to prosecute anyone, this did not mean that an offence had not been committed elsewhere.

The Costa del Sol property empire has all but vanished. An investigation traced MRI companies to an empty office in Madrid.

Documents show that last October MacAnthony and Pickering, as directors, handed MRI Overseas Property Group to a Peruvian company, under the directorship of octogenarian Fernando Arespacochaga, which appears to have never traded.

John and Muriel Andrews from Ballycarry, Co Antrim, paid £26,000 for a furniture pack in 2006, but Mr Andrews said: ‘We as yet have received no furniture, no offer of a refund, no apology.’

51 clientes denuncian a una inmobiliaria cerrada por estafa

June 6th, 2011
Story by JUANA VIÚDEZ | El Pais

51 clientes de la inmobiliaria MacAnthony, todos británicos e irlandeses, interpusieron el pasado viernes una querella en la Audiencia Nacional contra su propietario, Darragh Stewart MacAnthony, y otras personas, por estafa y apropiación indebida. Les acusan de quedarse con 600.000 euros que les habían entregado por adelantado para comprar muebles para viviendas en diferentes países en los que la empresa tenía presencia, tales como Bulgaria, Turquía o Marruecos.

Según sus abogados, la mayor parte de estas transacciones se canalizaron en su sede de Marbella (Málaga), ya cerrada. La empresa operaba desde el antiguo Club Financiero, utilizado anteriormente por el fallecido Jesús Gil para dirigir el Ayuntamiento marbellí. Los querellantes denuncian que han dejado sin bienes a la sociedad y se ha orquestado un traslado a una “oficina fantasma” de Madrid, que supuestamente administra un hombre de 90 años con domicilio en Perú y sin ninguna actividad conocida.

El empresario irlandés Darragh Stewart MacAnthony, de 35 años, es dueño del club de fútbol Peterborough United, que juega en el equivalente a la Segunda División de Inglaterra. MacAnthony se defendió de las acusaciones el sábado a través de su blog personal. Según su relato, la empresa ofreció muebles a muy bajo precio a sus clientes porque podían comprarlos al por mayor. “Hubo miles de clientes y todo fue genial. Hasta que la recesión golpeó”, detalló.

MacAnthony niega que se trate de un caso de fraude, sino que más bien hubo muchos proveedores que les dejaron en la estacada. Con todo, el empresario defiende que siguieron suministrando muebles hasta 2010. “Hemos llegado a pagar el mismo pedido dos veces, porque el primer proveedor quebró y otro se ocupó de servir el pedido”, argumenta.

 

Darragh MacAnthony faces court in Spain

June 6th, 2011
The Olive Press

DOZENS of expats have filed a case against Irish real estate owner Darragh MacAnthony.

The property mogul behind former holiday home giant MacAnthony Realty International (MRI) now faces legal action for ‘theft by swindle and misappropriation of funds.’

It comes after 51 British and Irish victims – who claim they lost more than half a million euros in undelivered furniture five years ago – filed a claim in Madrid.

They accuse MacAnthony, 35, of keeping 600,000 euros which they had paid him from his base in Marbella for furniture packages for homes in Bulgaria, Turkey and Morocco.

Lawyer Antonio Flores of Marbella- based property solicitors Lawbird, also accused MacAnthony of failing in an obligation to file for insolvency for his Spanish companies.

But MacAnthony and his former chief executives Michael Liggan and Dominic Pickering who also face action, have consistently denied any wrongdoing.

In a long response to the allegations posted on his website MacAnthony – who owns Peterborough Football Club – quipped he was ‘as popular as Osama Bin Laden or Gadaffi’ on Google.

He added: “I am fed up with constant unfounded allegations, lawsuits and blackmail.”

MRI’s head office shut in Marbella last year and sources told the Olive Press that MacAnthony – who once had huge billboards up and down the Costa del Sol – was planning to relocate to the US.

Investigators have discovered his company MRI Overseas is now owned by a 90-year-old Peruvian

 

Now Spain Gets Tough on Second Home Owners

May 29th, 2011
Story by Alexandra Goss | The Sunday Times

Britons caught in valuations trap, reports Alexandra Goss

BRITISH residents who have sold holiday homes in Spain are being stung for extra tax — simply because they have fallen victim to plunging property values.

When a non-resident sells property in Spain, the buyer is obliged to retain 3% of the price and pay it to the tax authorities to cover the vendor’s tax liabilities.

However, the cash-strapped Spanish authorities are entitled to set a higher value on a sale if they judge the declaration to be below market price — and will chase the vendor back in Britain if they think they have underpaid.

Lawyers said these values are historic and take no account of plummeting property prices. The Bank of Spain’s official data says house prices have fallen about 20% since 2007 but many experts believe the market is much worse. Estate agents say prices have fallen up to 50% in certain areas of the country.

As a result, Britons who are forced to sell properties below their “official” valuation are being chased for additional tax bills months, or sometimes years, after selling up.

Chris Snowdowne, 59, a reader from Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, sold his property near Palma, Majorca, for €500,000 in 2009, having paid a similar amount for it four years earlier.

He paid €15,000 for the “retention” tax but, as he believed he had paid all tax due, later asked his lawyer to get a refund from the Spanish authorities.

Snowdowne said: “The lawyer came back saying the authorities had assessed the property and found it to be worth close to €800,000. I was therefore landed with a capital gains tax bill of €39,000 — on top of the €15,000 I had already paid. [Non-residents are taxed at 19% on capital gains.]” Snowdowne is appealing through the Spanish courts.

Mark Stucklin at Spanish Property Insight, a property website, said: “This type of case is widespread. The retention tax came about because it was common in Spain for people to declare a lower price to the tax office than they sold for to reduce their capital gains tax bill.”

Antonio Flores, a lawyer at Lawbird Legal Services in Malaga, said he was seeing dozens of such cases. He said: “Unfortunately, the only way to fight this is through the Spanish administrative courts, which means you will have to pay legal fees.

“Non-residents should appeal against the demand, requesting an independent valuation of the property.”

If you are looking to sell a Spanish property and want to be sure the sale price is not below the value held by the authorities, Flores said you could request a binding valuation from your local tax office. You should therefore not be sanctioned if you sell above or equal to this value.

However, if you sell below the assessed valuation you would be held liable to pay extra tax.

Stucklin added: “If you don’t hear from the Spanish authorities within four years of paying your last tax bill you know you’re safe as that is the legal deadline for them to take action.”

Danish Bank risks trial in Spain

May 24th, 2011
Story by CLAUS IVERSEN | epn.dk

Peter Straarup summoned by a British investor who believes that the Danish Bank has cheated him. File photo: Lars Krabbe

From Google Translate

Danish Bank risk trial in Spain

Published at 22:05:11. 23:30

An elderly Englishman plaintiff Danish Bank after a loss of 800,000 euros.

Much has Danish Bank’s CEO, Peter Straarup, had to listen and eyes, through his many years in the bank. But it is probably the first time that he experiences seeing his name appear on an indictment that was sent to a Spanish court.

It is nevertheless true in a case in southern Spain, where a law firm is now trying to get a case to stand up against Danish Bank.

Company Lawbird Legal Services believes it can prove that the Danish Bank has cheated an elderly Englishman, because the bank has given him the wrong information on some tax in the information that helped to convince him to invest through the bank.

»Danish Bank has simply given incorrect information to my client. He has therefore been lured into an investment that he never should have made, “said lawyer Antonio Flores from Lawbird Legal Services, headquartered in Marbella in southern Spain.

The English man, now retired, borrowed in 2004 1 million. euro by Danish bank, which at that time had a branch in southern Spain. The money was invested through the Danish Bank branch in Luxembourg, which it did not have a lucky hand when the value has fallen by 800,000 euros.

The loan has not decreased

The loan of 1 million. euro has not fallen in value and the money will Danish Bank now want back. But it has the man no more, and therefore the bank tries instead to get his house in southern Spain.

To prevent this Englishman contacted the Spanish law firm in connection with the case thus believe they have found out that Danish Bank has cheated and deceived the man.

The paper on serious charges against the Danish Bank – and Peter Straarup that are mentioned in the indictment – are not bank employees to lie sleepless at night.

It failed Sunday to catch the person responsible for Danish Bank branch in Luxembourg, Klaus Mønsted Pedersen. But the bank’s press officer says on the matter.

“I do not know the case and I do not know about that Danish Bank International have misinformed. We have already seen that some lawyers in certain countries have a quite aggressive approach and, when they try to get a case to court, “said Donald Klinkby Madsen.

 

Original Article in Danish

Peter Straarup stævnes af en engelsk investor, der mener, at Danske Bank har snydt ham. Arkivfoto: Lars Krabbe

Danske Bank risikerer retssag i Spanien

CLAUS IVERSEN

Offentliggjort 22.05.11 kl. 23:30

En ældre englænder sagsøger Danske Bank efter et tab på 800.000 euro.

Meget har Danske Banks ordførende direktør, Peter Straarup, måttet lægge ører og øjne til gennem sine mange år i banken. Men det er formentlig første gang, at han oplever at se sit navn stå på et anklageskrift, som er sendt til en spansk domstol.

Det er ikke desto mindre tilfældet i en sag i Sydspanien, hvor et advokatfirma nu forsøger at få en sag op at stå mod Danske Bank.

Firmaet Lawbird Legal Services mener at kunne bevise, at Danske Bank har snydt en ældre englænder, fordi banken har givet ham forkerte oplysninger om nogle skatteregler i det informationsmateriale, som var med til at overbevise ham om at investere gennem banken.

»Danske Bank har ganske enkelt givet urigtige oplysninger til min klient. Han er derfor blevet lokket ud i en investering, som han aldrig burde have foretaget,« siger advokat Antonio Flores fra Lawbird Legal Services, der har hovedkontor i Marbella i Sydspanien.

Den engelske mand, som nu er pensionist, lånte i 2004 1 mio. euro af Danske Bank, som på det tidspunkt havde en afdeling i Sydspanien. Pengene blev investeret via Danske Banks afdeling i Luxembourg, hvilket den ikke havde en heldig hånd med, da værdien er faldet med 800.000 euro.

Lånet er ikke faldet

Lånet på 1 mio. euro er imidlertid ikke faldet i værdi, og de penge vil Danske Bank nu gerne have tilbage. Men dem har manden ikke mere, og derfor forsøger banken i stedet at få fat i hans hus i Sydspanien.

For at forhindre dette kontaktede englænderen det spanske advokatfirma, som i forbindelse med sagen altså mener at have fundet ud af, at Danske Bank har snydt og bedraget manden.

De på papiret alvorlige anklager mod Danske Bank – og Peter Straarup, som bliver nævnt i anklageskriftet – får dog ikke bankens ansatte til at ligge søvnløse om natten.

Det lykkedes ikke søndag at fange den ansvarlige for Danske Banks afdeling i Luxembourg, Klaus Mønsted Pedersen. Men bankens pressechef siger om sagen.

»Jeg kender ikke den konkrete sag, og jeg kender ikke noget til, at Danske Bank International skulle have misinformeret. Det er før set, at nogle advokater i bestemte lande har en ret aggressiv fremfærd, når de prøver at få en sag for domstolene,« siger Anders Klinkby Madsen.

 

Danish Bank hauled into court by dissatisfied investors

May 23rd, 2011
Story by Simon Munch | NPinvestor

An elderly Englishman plaintiff Danish Bank after a loss of 800,000 euros. The daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten Monday.

The Englishman has sued Danish Bank, as he believes that the bank has given him the wrong information in the information which prompted him to invest in the bank.

– Danish Bank has simply given incorrect information to my client. He has therefore been lured into an investment which he never should have made, “said lawyer Antonio Flores from Lawbird Legal Services, headquartered in Marbella in southern Spain to the newspaper.

The English investors borrowed in 2004 1 million. euro by Danish bank, which at that time had a branch in southern Spain. The money was invested through the Danish Bank branch in Luxembourg, but since then the value has declined by 800,000 euros, said the newspaper.

Translated with Google Translate

Original Story in Danish

Danske Bank hives i retten af utilfreds investor

En ældre englænder sagsøger Danske Bank efter et tab på 800.000 euro. Det skriver Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten mandag.

Englænderen har lagt sag an mod Danske Bank, da han mener, at banken har givet ham forkerte oplysninger i det informationsmateriale der fik ham til at investere i banken.

– Danske Bank har ganske enkelt givet urigtige oplysninger til min klient. Han er derfor blevet lokket ud i en investering, som han aldrig burde have foretaget, siger advokat Antonio Flores fra Lawbird Legal Services, der har hovedkontor i Marbella i Sydspanien til avisen.

Den engelske investor lånte i 2004 1 mio. euro af Danske Bank, som på det tidspunkt havde en afdeling i Sydspanien. Pengene blev investeret via Danske Banks afdeling i Luxembourg, men siden da er værdien faldet med 800.000 euro, oplyser avisen.

£9m timeshare scam Scot accused is on the run

May 15th, 2011
Story by Stephen Stewart | Sunday Mail

A Scot accused of running a GBP 9million timeshare scam is on the run in Spain.

Police are hunting Edinburghborn Richard Bain after he failed to appear in court in Malaga on fraud charges on May 9.

Bain, 46, is linked to Toni Muldoon who faces more than four years in jail over the racket which fleeced cash from people with unwanted Costa del Sol properties.

Bain was previously arrested in the UK on charges of theft and fraud under the name Richard Thompson.

He is alleged to have conned timeshare victims in Spain by offering legal assistance to recoup their losses but then disappeared with their cash.

Lawyer Antonio Flores, who represents 160 British claimants, said: “This was a multimillion pound scam.”

Timeshare owners were conned into paying upfront fees of around GBP 1200 for selling their Fuengirolabased companies linked to Muldoon between 2001 and 2006.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Bain, Muldoon’s wife and five others.

One rippedoff Scot from Balerno, Midlothian, said: “They got me the first time. It was quite an operation. You could hear a lot of phones going off in the background.”

At Monday’s court hearing in Malaga, 10 gang members were given suspended sentences of up to two years.

Six people, including Muldoon, pleaded guilty to fraud while four admitted charges of illicit association.

The court ordered that GBP 438,000 defrauded from 300 Scottish and English claimants be paid back.

Bain’s firm, Conectese was also reportedly not registered with Spanish authorities.

Timeshare King Stole £9Million

May 15th, 2011
Story by Fergal MacErlean | Sunday Express

Costa del Sol-based Muldoon, 64, and his wife Kim were accused of leading an operation that conned £9million from hundreds of timeshare owners.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Kim Muldoon, believed to have headed to Turkey, and six other members of the gang after they missed a court hearing in Malaga, Spain, brought by 300 mainly British claimants.

Maidstone-born Toni Muldoon and nine other defendants were given suspended sentences of under two years on condition that they repaid £438,000 within two years. Six pleaded guilty to fraud, the rest agreed to charges of illicit association and received a one-year suspended prison term.

The scam was run from call centres in Fuengirola from 2001 to 2006. Britons seeking to offload overpriced timeshares were contacted by telesales staff from companies including Screenit and Platinum Properties and offered an enticing rate after being told a buyer was interested.

An upfront fee of about £1,200 was then demanded for the sale management, never to be seen again. Twenty-six other companies, all linked to Muldoon, presented a fresh front for the racket, allowing it to run unchecked. A follow-up scam by company Conectese, run by Scotsman Richard Bain, saw the timeshare victims offered “legal assistance” for £250 to get their money back.

Lawyer Antonio Flores, of Marbella firm Lawbird, who represented 160 British claimants, said: “The amount the claimants were defrauded is considered only a fraction of all those who were swindled. This was a multi- million-pound scam. Muldoon is just horrible. He’s a natural-born conman.”

Victim Victor Jacobs, 89, of Hauxton, Cambridgeshire, said he was conned by “crooks”. The former engineer and his wife Peggy, also 89, received a call in 2001 from a Muldoon-linked company offering to sell their timeshare.

Mr Jacobs was keen to sell, being fed up with high maintenance fees at Lanzarote Beach Club. “The caller, a young woman, said, ‘We’ve got a buyer lined up for you,’ ” he explained. “They gave me his name and told us we would have to pay in advance.” The couple sent the £926 fee but were not contacted again.

Thousands of victims are thought to have funded Muldoon’s lavish lifestyle which includes a mansion in Benalmadena. He wrote on social networking site Bebo: “I love the fact that my work is not work. It is my passion and as I feel I am also good at it that makes me a happy man.”

Muldoon has been linked to more than 50 companies based in the UK, Spain and offshore, part of a huge international racket investigated by Interpol. He is also understood to be wanted in the UK in connection with two scams which netted £6million, after 15,000 victims paid upfront fees to websites promising debt elimination and a string of escort work.

Timeshare crook Toni Muldoon pleads guilty

May 14th, 2011
Story by FERGAL MACERLEAN | Mail Online

A British timeshare crook has been sentenced in Spain for fleecing holidaymakers in a £9million fraud. 

Costa del Sol-based Toni Muldoon, 64, was one of ten defendants given suspended sentences of up to two years by a judge in Malaga on condition they repay £438,000 in two years. 

Muldoon’s wife Kim and six other members of the gang missed the hearing and warrants have been issued for their arrest. She is believed to be in Turkey. 

Muldoon was among six defendants who pleaded guilty to fraud. 

Gang leader: Toni Muldoon admitted swindling hundreds of BritonsGang leader: Toni Muldoon admitted swindling hundreds of Britons

The other four admitted charges of illicit association. 

The fraud was run from the resort of Fuengirola from 2001 to 2006. 

Britons seeking to offload overpriced timeshares were told a buyer was interested and offered an good rate by telesales staff from companies including Screenit and Platinum Properties.

Condenas pactadas para la banda organizada que estafó a 300 británicos

May 9th, 2011
Story by Jose Carlos Villanueva | El Mundo

El juicio contra una organización de ciudadanos británicos, en su mayoría, dedicados a estafas en el sector inmobiliario de la multipropiedad en la Costa del Sol, se ha saldado este lunes en la Audiencia de Málaga con condenas pactadas entre la Fiscalía y las defensas.

Según ha informado a los periodistas el abogado Luis González Ordoñez, vinculado al bufete marbellí Lawbird, que representa a 160 de los 300 afectados británicos, hay 10 personas condenadas de los 18 acusados inicialmente, ya que siete de ellos están “en rebeldía” y otro falleció.

Seis de los encausados han sido condenados por un delito de estafa y a cada uno de ellos se les impone una pena de 2 años de prisión. Sobre los cuatro restante ha recaído una pena de un año de cárcel por un delito de asociación ilícita.

También se han fijado multas en el marco de este pacto. Así, los condenados por estafa deberán abonar un importe de seis euros diarios durante seis meses; mientras que para los condenados por asociación ilícita el importe será de cuatro euros durante doce meses.

La Fiscalía acusaba los procesados de un delito continuado de estafa, por el que pedía para cada uno cuatro años y medio de prisión, y de otro de asociación ilícita, por el que solicitaba, según los casos, dos o tres años de prisión.

Luis González Ordoñez ha recordado la “gran alarma social” que se originó en el Reino Unido cuando los tabloides británicos comenzaron a informar sobre este escándalo inmobiliario, ocurrido en 2001 en la Costa del Sol, principalmente en Fuengirola.

El letrado, que ha llevado el caso junto al también abogado Antonio Flores, se ha mostrado satisfecho con el pacto alcanzado: “Es la primera condena de estas características en España contra las tramas del sector de la multipropiedad”, ha expuesto.

Al ser preguntado sobre el hecho de que ninguno de los condenados ingrese en la cárcel, el letrado de los afectados cree que en Gran Bretaña “el hecho de que estas personas figuren ya con antecedentes penales” supone algo “ejemplarizante”, a pesar del tiempo transcurrido, 10 años, desde que se denunciaron los hechos.

Según las conclusiones provisionales del ministerio público, los acusados, de distintas nacionalidades, habrían creado, con la finalidad de “un enriquecimiento ilícito”, una estructura empresarial que “renovaban periódicamente desvinculándose de las sociedades previas para evitar ser localizados”. De esta forma, desplegaron una modalidad de la conocida estafa de reventa de multipropiedad.

Así, se determina la existencia de varios grupos de acusados y se precisa que esta estructura organizada desde el inicio de su actuación “ha abarcado y dirigido a decenas de personas”, primero dirigida por un británico y su mujer y, posteriormente, por un acusado sudafricano, que ha fallecido. Así, se señala que el grupo actuó con proyección internacional al menos desde el año 2000.

Como tarjeta de presentación, dice la acusación en su escrito inicial, del que informó Europa Press, el grupo utilizaba “un gran número de sociedades, algunas registradas, otras off shores, otras simplemente inexistentes”, que tenían cuentas “temporales que reflejan múltiples transferencias que suma un ingente capital defraudado”. En la organización, cada acusado tenía una función.