False holiday villa gang busted in Fuerteventura

False holiday villa gang busted by the Guardia civil in Fuerteventura.

Officers from Spain’s Guardia civil have been able to bust a gang who were posing as an agency that offered holiday villas. The gang had stolen photos from the websites of other tour operators and then used them as if they were their own.

The Guardia civil in Fuerteventura were able to dismantle the gang that had swindled around 70,000 euros from unsuspecting customers. The officers managed to arrest eight people who had tricked around 60 customers.

The officers begun an investigation in late July when complaints started rolling in regarding the fake holiday villa gang. The gang had used a series of websites and social media profiles to hide behind, but they were soon caught out.

When unsuspecting holidaymakers arrived at their holiday villas expecting to enjoy a well-earned holiday, they were shocked to find the villas already occupied by people, who had rented them. Other people were shocked as their reservations were changed only a matter of hours before they were due to arrive.

The fraudsters either then offered these people a smaller resort or just left them without anywhere to stay. The case is now being handled by the Puerto del Rosario Magistrate’s Court.

In other Spanish news, Ex-King Juan Carlos is the subject of yet another tax probe.

Prosecutors are investigating both withdrawals and deposits that were made to former King Juan Carlos over several years. They are looking into his bank account from 2014 to 2018 where he had received his annual allowance of nearly 200,000 euros.

According to reports, investigators are checking that payments correspond with those set out in the Spanish national budget.

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