A luxury villa in Marbella was secretly sold without its owners’ knowledge in what investigators are calling a sophisticated international real estate fraud plot.
The case came to light on November 16, when an alarm was triggered at the beachfront property in the exclusive Costa Bella urbanisation.
Police arrived expecting a break-in, but instead found people inside claiming to be the lawful new owners.
The real owners, an Austrian couple living in Miami, had no idea their property had been sold.
Fake passports and a Panama power of attorney
According to the victims’ legal team, the operation involved professional identity theft.
A German national allegedly appeared before a Spanish notary using what was presented as a power of attorney issued in Panama.
To support the documentation, the group produced forged Austrian passports described by investigators as ‘perfect’ in detail.
Using the fake identities, the suspects managed to formalise the public deed of sale.
Sold for a bargain price
The luxury villa was sold for just €320,000 – significantly below the multi-million euro market value for a frontline beach property in Marbella.
Investigators are now tracing the money trail. The payment was not made to the real owners’ bank accounts. Instead, the cheque was reportedly handed directly to the supposed German representative.
Police are working to establish who ultimately cashed the cheque and where the funds ended up.
Shell company and suspicious payments
The property was purchased by a company set up just a year earlier with the minimum legal capital of €3,000.
Its administrators are two Polish nationals who attended the signing accompanied by a lawyer acting as interpreter.
Crucially, court documents state that the €320,000 used for the purchase allegedly came from a bank account belonging to that same lawyer – a detail investigators believe strengthens the theory that an organised criminal group was behind the operation.
The investigation remains ongoing as authorities attempt to untangle what appears to be one of the most audacious luxury property scams uncovered on the Costa del Sol in recent years.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
