Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Former mayor Jose Mas of Lliber has been found guilty of fraud in relation to building permits granted for 290 illegal villas.
The properties were marketed at between €300,000 to €500,000 to United Kingdom and European buyers.
Construction took place in the Marina Alta region town between 1999 and 2003 on land which was classified as ‘non-developable’.
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Prospective purchasers were given assurances that there would be no problems, but were left high and dry as builders ‘vanished’ before everything was finished.
A British pensioner couple said in 2009 that they had to fork out an extra €20,000 to get their villa completed only to discover there was no water or electricity connection.
Amador Signes, the architect for the municipality, was paid to carry out the fraud.
Non-Spaniards received building licences for their dream home construction with the aid of fake reports that were approved at plenary sessions of Lliber Council.
The Alicante Provincial Court said many of those affected by the scam ‘would not have bought land and had homes built if they had known about the difficulties and illegalities regarding construction’.
Amador Signes along with three developers and Jose Mas were all found guilty of fraudulent conduct.
The two sentences were for two years each, but they won’t serve them as it was their first offence..
A mitigating factor in a ‘lowish’ sentence from the court was the ‘undue delay’ in bringing the case to trial which eventually happened in May.
The report stated that the permission for the construction of the villas was lied to dozens UK buyers and others.
Mas and Signes were also fined €1,800 each for the crime of urban prevarication.
The two were also banned from any role in public administration, construction or architecture for three years.
Two other developers have been acquitted on charges of fraud and urban deception.
Jose Juan Reus the current Lliber Mayor was also cleared of urban prevarication.
After the initial arrests in 2009, two ex-councillors were killed before the case was finally solved.
The Olive Press has more Alicante News. Click here to read it.
