Monthly Archives: April 2012

Peterborough United boss back in MacAnthony territory to answer claims of fraud

April 28th, 2012
Story by MÓNICA PÉREZ | Sur in English

The chairman of Peterborough United FC and former property developer Darragh MacAnthony, whose name once adorned MRI billboards welcoming potential buyers to ‘MacAnthony territory’, was back in Marbella this week to answer charges brought against Mac-Anthony’s MRI Property International by a group of about fifty former clients. The group, mainly British and Irish, say they paid 15,000 euros each for furniture packs for properties in Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy, Cape Verde, France and Morocco which were never delivered.

Also appearing before the court in Marbella on Wednesday accused of fraud were Dominique Pickering, Sarah O’Callaghan and Nicola Shaw, all former MRI executives. Michael Liggan failed to appear.

MacAnthony was questioned for two hours, during which he confirmed that MRI had received the money from the claimants but stated that the funds had been transferred to the furniture manufacturers, who never supplied the goods. Pickering, O’Callaghan and Shaw’s statements were all to the same effect. In support of this assertion their defence lawyers have presented a document – which to date has not been shown to either the judge or the lawyers for the prosecution – which apparently shows details of the bank transfers to the furniture providers.

Administrator

According to the lawyer Luis Fernando González Ordóñez, the Mac-Anthony property companies were effectively closed down without going into administration, with the only representative now being a 90 year old Spaniard, Fernando A. Alcalá del Olmo, sole administrator of the Hispano-Peruvian company, Inmobiliaria Vasco Peruana SAC. A. was also in court on Wednesday and stated that he had never had any direct contact with the other accused, and that he is still in receipt of 600 euros a month paid to him by MacAnthony for his services.

The group of clients who accuse MacAnthony of fraud are claiming in total more than half a million euros which they say they deposited with MRI for the purchase of furniture. Most of the transactions took place in Marbella, in the MacAnthony offices which were housed in the building previously used as his ‘Club Financiero’ headquarters by the late Mayor, Jesús Gil.

The Marbella judge will now have to decide whether to proceed with the case.

Court quiz for soccer boss in fraud probe

April 26th, 2012
Story by Gerard Couzens | Herald Ireland

FOOTBALL boss Darragh MacAnthony faced a court grilling over claims his company swindled holiday home owners out of hundreds of thousands of euros.

The Dublin-born entrepreneur was quizzed for nearly two hours by a Spanish judge about his property empire and a furniture sales sideline.

Mr MacAnthony, once estimated to be worth €180m, was chaffeur-driven to the court in upmarket Marbella to answer allegations of “misappropriation of funds and theft by swindle.”

Dozens of ex-customers sparked the probe after complaining nearly €500,000 worth of furniture, ordered more than five years ago from his company for apartments in Morocco, Bulgaria and Cape Verde, was never delivered.

The Peterborough United chairman declined to comment as he left after the hearing behind closed doors and was driven away to the luxury hotel where he is staying in a €2,650-a-night private villa.

Four other business associates linked to his property firm MacAnthony Realty International were also questioned.

Investigating judge Beatriz Gomez-Escolar is probing allegations MacAnthony and his business associates misappropriated around €550,000 from 56 customers and stripped MRI of its assets before a de facto closing as part of an elaborate fraud involving the use of an OAP frontman.

The investigation into MRI’s business practices launched in January after a group of 51 buyers ratified an earlier claim that €492,000 of furniture they ordered for holiday homes was never delivered.

Five more people have since come forward to claim they were victims as well.

MRI has consistently denied any allegations of wrongdoing.

Mr MacAnthony, who has not been charged with any crime, has said in the past: “There are no foundations behind these allegations. I certainly didn’t do anything wrong and neither did anyone with MRI when I was there.”

Imputado por estafa el dueño de una inmobiliaria marbellí

April 26th, 2012
Story by Juana Viudez | El Pais

El empresario irlandés Darragh MacAnthony, dueño de una inmobiliaria bautizada con su apellido, ha sido imputado por el juzgado número 4 de Marbella (Málaga) por estafa y apropiación indebida. 40 de sus clientes de la oficina que tenía abierta en Marbella, y que ocupaba la sede del famoso Club Financiero, le acusan de quedarse con 600.000 euros que le adelantaron para unos muebles que nunca recibieron.

MacAnthony alegó el miércoles en los juzgados que no se apropió de ese dinero y que fue la empresa intermediaria quien falló en el negocio, según el abogado de los querellantes. El empresario, conocido en Inglaterra por ser el dueño del equipo de fútbol Peterbouroug, es una de las seis personas contra la que se han querellado los clientes de la inmobiliaria. Cinco de los implicados ya han declarado ante la juez Beatriz Fernández.

Según los abogados, los querellados reconocen haber recibido el dinero, pero también aseguran que se lo transfirieron a la empresa proveedora de los muebles. “Se comprometieron con la juez a entregar la documentación que lo acredita”, explicó el letrado Luis González. Los abogados recelan de que el empresario defienda que no cobró “ninguna comisión” por intermediar en la venta de los muebles, ya que alega que transfirió el 100% del dinero.

Los afectados de la supuesta estafa, todos británicos e irlandeses, entregaron entre 10.000 y 15.000 euros para unos muebles que pensaban instalar en las viviendas que la inmobiliaria comercializaba en países como Turquía, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde o Italia. Firmaron sus contratos entre 2005 y 2010, año en el que la empresa cerró su sede en Marbella.

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.

Darragh MacAnthony in court over MRI claims

April 25th, 2012
Story by ANDREW PENMAN | Mirror

Holiday property mogul Darragh MacAnthony appeared in a Spanish court yesterday to answer charges that he never delivered furniture packs worth £400,000 to 51 customers.

The 36-year-old Irish multi-millionaire and chairman of Peterborough United was summonsed by the Marbella criminal court after the customers filed a complaint against him and his company, MacAnthony Realty International.

Lawyer Antonio Flores said the company had acted “in a disgraceful manner”, adding: “They never filed for insolvency in Spain. They simply disappeared.”

Records show that the former holiday home giant moved its registered premises to a ghost office in Madrid where it was placed under the management of a non-trading Peruvian company run by a 90-year-old man.

MacAnthony denies the accusations and has blamed the credit crunch, which forced several of MRI’s furniture suppliers to fold, and has called the legal action as a “ridiculous suit”.

The Spanish judge will decide whether MacAnthony and the five other defendants should face the charges of “misappropriation of funds and theft by swindle”.

Peterborough United boss faces fraud charges in Spain

April 25th, 2012
Story by Wendy Williams | The Olive Press

Peterborough United boss faces fraud charges in Spain

The Irish football mogul was grilled by the judge in Marbella for two hours behind closed doors.

Arriving in a white Range Rover with two men, it is the first time the football boss has faced the music in Spain.

He was joined by his former chief executive Dominic Pickering, Sarah O’Callaghan, and Nicola Shaw, a former director of MRI Ireland.

Meanwhile, 90-year-old Fernando A., whose Peruvian company Inmobiliaria Vasco Peruana SAC took over MRI Overseas Property Group in 2010, also travelled over for the hearing.

None of the accused, who have continually denied the allegations, would speak with reporters.

“I’m sure you are a lovely lady but I am not speaking to you,” said MacAnthony.

It comes three months after over 40 victims travelled to Marbella to tell a judge how the football boss’ company MacAnthony Realty International (MRI) failed to deliver over half a million euros of furniture to them between 2005 and 2010.

MRI – which boasted an annual turnover of more than 100m euros before the crisis – developed resorts in several countries from its main base in Marbella, from where it sold the furniture packs.

The alleged victims – who filed a claim in Madrid in June last year – accuse MacAnthony, 35, of keeping 600,000 euros which they collectively paid for furniture packages for homes in Bulgaria, Turkey, and Morocco.

Meanwhile, Antonio Flores, the Spanish lawyer acting for the group, claims ‘many other’ customers are also affected and due to file further claims.

“The missing furniture is just one of the irregularities linked to the company,” he said.

Flores insisted an additional claim, totalling 15m euros, is being prepared on behalf of up to 200 British and Irish MRI customers claiming they lost large sums in upfront fees.

“Today was just the first step. The courts were gathering information and just listening to what everyone has to say before they decide how to proceed further,” said Flores.

“There is also another claim that will be made in the not too distant future that is substantial.”

Declaran en Marbella seis exdirectivos de una inmobiliaria tras una denuncia por estafa

April 25th, 2012
Story by MÓNICA PÉREZ | Diario Sur

El conocido exdirectvo inmobiliario Darragh Macanthony ha regresado hoy a Marbella para declarar ante el titular del Juzgado de Instrucción número 4 tras la denuncia por estafa y apropiación indebida presentada por medio centenar de ciudadanos extranjeros. Los afectados, británicos e irlandeses, ratificaron hace un mes una querella en los juzgados de Marbella. En su día confiaron a esta empresa la compra de mobiliario para viviendas ubicadas en diversas partes del mundo como Turquía, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, Italia, Francia y Marruecos, donde la inmobiliaria tenía presencia.

Junto a Macanthony, hoy deben comparecer otros directivos como Dominic Pickering, Michael John Liggan, Sarah Ocallaghan, Nicola Victoria Shaw, y Fernando A. Alcalá del Olmo.
El primero en declarar ha sido Darrah Macanthoy, que llegaba a los juzgados minutos después de las diez de la mañana, y donde ha permanecido hasta pasadas las doce. A su salida no ha querido harcer declaraciones.
Los querellantes acusan a los exdirectivos de la empresa de quedarse con entre 500.000 y 600.000 euros de las cantidades que dieron a cuenta. La mayor parte de estas transacciones se llevó acabo en la sede que Macanthony estableció en Marbella, en concreto, en las instalaciones que el alcalde Jesús Gil utilizó en su día como Club Financiero.
Según figura en la providencia del juzgado, a la que tuvo acceso este periodico, se deciden praticar nuevas diligencias “visto el estado en que se mantenen las presentes actuaciones y resultando las mismas insuficientes para la determinación y circunstancias del hecho, las personas que en él hayan participado y el órgano competente para el enjuiciamiento”.
En su querella, los denunciantes aseguran que los responsables de la inmobiliaria han dejado sin bienes a la sociedad y han cambiado su domicilio social a una “oficina fantasma” en Madrid de la que figura como administrador un hombre de 90 años sin actividad conocida.
Darragh Macanthotny es actualmente propietario de un club de fútbol de la Primera División Inglesa, el Peterborough United.

Un conocido empresario británico, citado en Marbella por una presunta estafa

April 25th, 2012
Málaga Hoy

Daragh MacAnthony y otros ex directivos de la inmobiliaria MacAnthony Realty International han sido citados a declarar por la jueza del caso Muebles, a fin de tomarles declaración en la querella por estafa y apropiación indebida por la que se les investiga. Se les acusa de haberse apropiado de 600.000 euros pertenecientes a unos 40 denunciantes. Daragh MacAnthony es un personaje público en el Reino Unido -actualmente es propietario del Peterborough, un club de fútbol de la Primera División inglesa, equivalente a la Segunda División en España- por lo que frecuentemente atrae la atención de la prensa de este país.

Los 40 denunciantes tuvieron que ratificar personalmente hace ahora tres meses ante este mismo juzgado, a petición de la jueza de Instrucción Beatriz Fernández Gómez-Escolar, los hechos que denuncian, una actuación que fue que fue ampliamente difundida en el país británico.

Los hechos por los que se les investiga se remontan al periodo 2005-2010. Cada reclamante había entregado un importe de en torno a 10.000-15.000 euros para la adquisición de muebles para las viviendas que adquirían del propio MacAnthony en diversas partes del mundo (Turquía, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, Italia, Francia y Marruecos) donde su empresa tenía presencia. A los clientes se les obligaba a firmar un contrato de adquisición de mobiliario, muebles que supuestamente luego MacAnthony adquiriría principalmente de empresas en Bulgaria y Turquía, pero que en muchos casos nunca llegó a entregar.

Citan a declarar al dueño de una inmobiliaria marbellí por presunta estafa

April 25th, 2012
Story by P. SÁNCHEZ | La Opinión de Málaga

El juzgado de Instrucción número 4 de Marbella ha citado a declarar hoy al propietario de la antigua inmobiliaria con sede en la ciudad MacAnthony Realty International. Su dueño, el empresario Darragh MacAnthony, está acusado por 40 querellantes de ser presunto autor de los delitos de estafa y apropiación indebida.

Los denunciantes, británicos e irlandeses, acusan a MacAnthony de haberse apropiado de unos 600.000 euros. Es la cantidad que entregaron para adquirir unos muebles que «nunca recibieron», indicaron sus representantes legales, el despacho de abogados marbellí Lawbird.

Los hechos se remontan al período comprendido entre 2005 y 2010. Cada reclamante invirtió una media de 15.000 euros para comprar muebles para las viviendas que les vendió la misma inmobiliaria en distintas partes del mundo. Es el caso de Turquía, Bulgaria o Cabo Verde, entre otras ubicaciones.

«La empresa ha efectuado un cierre de hecho consistente en el vaciado de la sociedad y de sus activos sin solicitar concurso, lo que podría devenir en un delito societario», indicó el letrado Luis González.

I needed some money to visit my grandchildren and now I’ve lost my house

April 13th, 2012
Story by M. ÁNGELES GONZÁLEZ | Sur in English

Jean Hilary Leftwich has not yet got used to the idea that other people are enjoying the house that she lived in for almost 25 years in Alhaurín de la Torre. This 67 year old British resident is one of more than 400 people affected in the province of Malaga by an alleged fraud committed by foreign banks. As a result she has been forced to rent out her home and sell an apartment in Marbella at a loss to pay off a debt that threatened to leave her homeless.

On Monday she joined another thirty or so foreigners resident on the Costa del Sol, most of themBritish, in a peaceful protest outside the Malaga tax office organised by the Equity Release Victims Association (ERVA).

The aim of the gathering was to deliver a writ to the Spanish tax authorities to formally denounce that at least ten banks, mainlyDanish, had turned them into accomplices in a tax fraud involving equity release and the investment of large sums of money in tax havens such as Luxembourg and the Channel Islands.

According to the victims, and to lawyer Antonio Flores who represents some members of the group, between 2004 and 2009 the banks they now accuse of fraud convinced them, through advertisements in the press, leaflets and phone calls, to take out a kind of reverse mortgage on their homes so that their heirs would not face paying inheritance tax that could amount to as much as 80 per cent of the value of property if this is free of all liens. They were also promised attractive returns through the investment of much of the loan in funds that were allegedly risk free. The offer was attractive to pensioners whose assets were all tied up in their property and who required cash to top up their income.

“I wanted some money to travel to England to visit my grandchildren”, explains Jean Hilary Leftwich, who ended up having to sell her apartment in Marbella to pay off her 385,000 euro debt with the bank. Sixty five year old Toni Minta fears losing his home in Estepona, for which he paid 600,000 euros ten years ago. He took out a loan for 1,250,000 euros which went to a tax haven. Now the ups and downs of the economy have reduced this sum to 500,000 euros yet his original debt with the bank remains intact.

ERVA Chairman Euan Armstrong describes the protest as a success.

“Now that we have informed the Spanish tax authority of the possible loss of revenue by the removal from Spain of all the money taken from our members which has been deposited in Luxembourg (a tax free state) in order to evade Inheritance Tax, then we would expect them to ask the guilty banks to declare how many clients have died since buying these investment plans therefore evading Inheritance Tax.

“We are confident of some sort of result after this. The Spanish Tax Authority cannot ignore this and neither can the banks involved in the scam”, he points out.

Earlier this year the ‘Audiencia Nacional’ court rejected the case.

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Una treintena de ingleses estafados en Marbella se concentra ante Hacienda

April 11th, 2012
Story by PRINCESA SÁNCHEZ | La Opinión de Málaga

Los manifestantes expusieron ayer sus pancartas ante la sede de la Agencia Tributaria. Unos 30 jubilados extranjeros, en su mayoría británicos, se concentraron ayer ante la Delegación de Hacienda en Málaga. Denuncian ser víctimas de un fraude inmobiliario por el que temen perder sus viviendas situadas en la Costa del Sol, principalmente en Marbella, donde residen.

Los supuestos estafados presentaron un documento para informar a la Agencia Tributaria de su situación pero, sobre todo, para aclarar que no son cómplices. Acusan como presuntos autores de la estafa a una decena de bancos internacionales, muchos de ellos escandinavos, que operaron en España transitoriamente entre 2004 y 2009.

Querella. En noviembre de 2011, los afectados, constituidos en asociación de víctimas, interpusieron una querella ante la Audiencia Nacional por esta causa. El Alto Tribunal la desestimó al entender que no se había aportado «el mínimo argumento indiciario» y que el juzgado «carece de competencia para investigar los hechos denunciados». El despacho de abogados que les representa, Lawbird, lamentó la decisión del tribunal español y la comparó con el Gobierno de Dinamarca, donde tienen sede alguno de los bancos denunciados, que ha ordenado investigar los hechos.

Los manifestantes ayer portaban pancartas. «Danske Bank: defraudadores de impuestos españoles pero no conmigo», advertían. Danske Bank es una de las entidades bancarias que, según los querellantes, le ofreció un préstamo hipotecario sobre sus propios inmuebles, limpios de cargas económicas. Los denunciantes aseguran que los bancos les engañaron al convencerles de que la Agencia Tributaria les cobraría unos elevados impuestos a sus descendientes para poder heredar sus bienes en España. Con esta fórmula no sólo lo evitaban sino que se garantizaban una renta vitalicia.

A cambio, tenían que autorizar a los bancos a invertir los fondos obtenidos en productos financieros supuestamente «libres de riesgo», explicó Antonio Flores, titular del despacho, con sede en Marbella.

«La trama les estaba invitando a defraudar a Hacienda», indicó. Según los cálculos del letrado, el número de presuntas víctimas de esta estafa puede rondar las 800 y las cantidades defraudadas superan los 250 millones de euros. Entre 50 y 75 millones de euros del impuesto de sucesiones.