A British landowner claims two of his plots in Estepona were sold for €500,000 without his knowledge after someone impersonated him at a Malaga notary’s office.
The owner says he neither signed the sale deeds nor authorised the transactions in 2024, insisting he was in Dallas, in the US, at the time.
A criminal complaint filed by Escalante & Botello Abogados alleges identity impersonation, fraud and document forgery, among other possible offences.
The two plots, located within a residential development in Estepona, were paid for using three cheques: two for €125,000 and another for €250,000.
According to the complaint, two companies participated as buyers in one transaction, while a single company bought the other plot.
The owner’s lawyers say he left London on October 23, 2024, and returned from Dallas on November 15. They submitted copies of flight tickets to support his account.
They also highlighted a discrepancy in the identity documents, as the passport number used by the person who attended the notary’s office did not match the owner’s.
A separate notarial document dated February 5, 2025, recorded checks of his current and previous passports. According to his lawyers, none carried the number used to sign the sale deeds.
The owner says he only discovered the transactions in January 2025, around three months after the deeds were signed, when the development’s community administrators told him the plots had changed hands.
His lawyer also cited a request received by the community for a certificate concerning outstanding debts on the plots – paperwork commonly sought during a property sale – as a reason to act quickly.
Documents outlining the transactions identify purchasing companies linked to Barcelona and Madrid, alongside an intermediary allegedly acting for the buyers and others said to have introduced the parties.
Investigators must establish who appeared before the notary, what identification was presented and how the sales were completed.
The allegations remain under investigation after prosecutors opposed closing the case while inquiries continued.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
