Date Published: 13/05/2022
ARCHIVED - Hunt for British estate agent who swindled 67,000 euros in Lanzarote
The Briton is facing six years in prison for real estate fraud in Spain
A search, capture and arrest warrant has been issued for British estate agent Theresa Carol Arcari by the Arrecife court in Lanzarote after she has failed to respond to several subpoenas. The Briton, who operates in both Lanzarote and Tenerife, is facing six years behind bars for real estate fraud.
The accused has repeatedly failed to turn up to court, on one occasion claiming she had Covid; investigators have since established that she is no longer at her registered address and at an earlier hearing, a judge refused to seize her passport or freeze her assets.
Ms Arcari is accused of fraudulently keeping a large sum of money from the sale of a property in Orzola in May 2009, when the defendant agreed to advertise an apartment for a local resident.
A British buyer agreed to buy the property, and since the seller had granted Ms Arcari power of attorney, more than 67,000 euros was transferred into her account over three separate transactions. She was, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, given permission to carry out all of the purchase procedures “without the defendant at any time having any intention of perfecting the sale of said property or returning the amounts of money transferred by her, incorporating the same to its assets, causing it the consequent economic damage.”
After this scam, Ms Arcari reportedly continued to operate as an estate agent on different websites, using various aliases.
The Prosecutor’s Office has requested a jail term of six years, a fine of 5,500 euros and the return of the 67,000 euros in misappropriated funds.
Also of interest: Brexit shrinks demand for second homes in Spain
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Loading
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Contact Spanish News Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268