MILLIONS OF euros pocketed in an alleged property scam on the Costa Blanca have been recovered by police after being stashed in Andorra bank accounts.

MILLIONS OF euros pocketed in an alleged property scam on the Costa Blanca have been recovered by police after being stashed in Andorra bank accounts.
In an international operation, officers of the Guardia Civil have repatriated more than 2.4 million euros from the Principality – said to be part of an estimated 90 million euro fortune earned in a corruption scandal centred on the Marina Alta village of Lliber.

The fraud is said to centre on the construction and sale of 300 illegal homes – purchased in good faith by expats for between 250,000€ and 665,000€ between 1999 and 2003.

And investigations by detectives under Operation Ruins have centred on Lliber Town Hall and former mayor Jose Mas Avella and technical architect Amador Signes.
At present 18 people – including the mayor and the civil servant – as well as lawyers, promoters, and builders, one of them British expat Trevor Bourne, are under investigation by a judge in a Denia courtroom. It is expected a full criminal trial will follow.

LAWYER
The judge has also ordered a Javea lawyer to appear for questioning about his alleged involvement in the fraud. It could mean the number in the dock climbs to 19.
The Denia court also called for police to trace the proceeds of the fraud and officers discovered the Andorra accounts said to be in the name of the technical architect and his wife.

Adrian Hobbs, president of action group AULN – Abusos Urbanisticos Lliber No! which is fighting to have the houses legalised – said it was clear there had been a sophisticated plot to deceive victims.
“We are very pleased this money has actually been recovered and it clearly shows that money changed hands between the arrested parties,” he said.
“This will only serve to strengthen our case when it eventually comes to court - 300 home owners have effectively been conned in a sophisticated scam which started within the walls of the town hall.”
He said homeowners had suffered years of frustration and were still without water, electricity, and the necessary paperwork to make their homes legal.