Property swindle bank accounts are frozen

The alleged ringleader of the plot, Carlos Garcia Roldan, was arrested in Colombia last week. He had changed his appearance but was tracked down in a joint operation between Colombian police and the Guardia Civil.

Eleven people in all have been arrested and two others are under investigation, the operation extending to Barcelona and Tarragona. Thirty-eight properties have also been placed under a Guardia Civil order.

The plot started in 2015 when seventeen fictitious developments were announced. Prospective buyers made substantial deposits and were subsequently asked for further payments to contribute to building costs. In mostly all cases these developments did not have building licences and the supposed sellers were not the owners of land where building was meant to have been taking place.

Guardia Civil investigators are said to have examined 350,000 bank transactions in analysing the movement of funds.