ARCHIVED - Alicante real estate agency cheats clients out of 5.5M euros in pyramid-style scam on the Costa Blanca

More than 60 victims fell prey to the luxury-pad hustle operated from an office in El Campello, Alicante province

A real estate agency that operated a massive pyramid-style scam from an office in El Campello, swindling 5.5 million euros out of clients across Spain, has been shut down.

Three people have been arrested, including a father and son who allegedly managed the agency, and three others, employees who carried out the work of luring clients, promoting the scam and organising construction, are under investigation.

More than 60 victims, predominantly French, handed over hundreds of thousands for luxury pads they never actually owned.

At the end of 2021, the Guardia Civil in El Campello launched operation 'Serpis' to investigate an alleged scam by a real estate group based in the area, which operated through the Internet, selling luxury homes in Busot and surrounding areas.

Having set up office in 2018, the group specialised in two types of scams, according to police sources.

One involved offering the sale of the same already constructed, high-end property to multiple buyers. The other consisted of formalising a contract for a new-build with an unsuspecting client. In both scams, the victims paid up, but got nothing in return.

The 'agency' allegedly falsified original documents issued by the Land Registry and then used the forged papers to carry out the purchase and sale contracts.

They advertised luxury homes on the internet, usually on social networks, and mainly targeted French-speaking citizens.

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The "ostentatious" office, located in Playa Muchavista in El Campello, the state-of-the-art technology and the high-end vehicles used by the company's directors served as a hook" to trick potential clients, wealthy people who had "no idea it was a fraud scam".

Victims paid reservation fees or deposits to start construction, depending on the case.

However, the money was immediately diverted to the personal accounts of the members of the criminal group, who then tried to transfer it to foreign accounts without leaving a trace.

After a while, clients realised they had been conned and contacted the police, who have since identified at least 60 victims, including clients who have made transfers for houses that have not been built, houses that have been sold more than once, suppliers of materials or services for construction and banks.

A fifth of the stolen 5.5 million euros has been recovered and returned to its rightful owners, and an investigation is still ongoing into the case of 18 illegal construction workers who were never paid for building work that was actually carried out.

"This has been an arduous investigation involving several months of intense work of gathering and studying information that has led to arrests and further enquiries," said El Campello's Guardia Civil.

All detainees of undisclosed nationalities and aged between 24 and 55, have been released with conditions.

Image: Guardia Civil