Fake landlords swindle prospective tenants in Marbella

FAKE landlords in Marbella have swindled a couple out of €600.

“Central flat, near amenities and beach” This is the advert that Ezequiel Eduardo Bruscagin and his partner Natalia Taboada answered when they were looking for temporary accommodation in Marbella in May.

Bruscagin and Taboada both live in Granada but spend their summers working in Marbella and, as such, need somewhere to live so they answered the advert and were met by “Fernando” and his son who professed to be the owner of the studio. After seeing the space and talking with “Fernando” the couple agreed to rent the studio; they put down a deposit of €150 and two weeks later they put down another €150 towards the deposit and the first month’s rent – in total they paid out more than €600.

The problem was that “Fernando” was not the owner of the studio and had no right to rent it out.

Bruscagin and Taboada lost all the money they put down and have never seen “Fernando” again. The actual owner of the flat has come forward and stated to the authorities that he had nothing to do with the swindling of the couple.

After a complaint was lodged with the police they immediately recognised who they were dealing with as “Fernando” was well known to them for various crimes committed in his past.

Bruscagin commented that in future he would always ask to see the deeds of a property before handing out any money.