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Price of a passport tumbles A new price of an adult 32
21 - 27 march 2014
The Galapagos Islands
page passport will be £83, a
Visits to the islands are strictly controlled and under constant threat.
PAGE 11
PAGE 32
child’s 32 page one will be £53.
Issue 753
Court backs Lliber victims by Jack Troughton VICTIMS OF an illegal homes scam in a Costa Blanca beauty spot are celebrating a court’s decision to put a builder behind bars for fraud. They believe it is a timely reminder that the wheels of justice are turning against those who duped them into handing over a fortune for outlawed property. More than 300 villas were built on protected and rustic land in the valleys and hills surrounding the village of Lliber between 2000 and 2003 – and sold to unsuspecting buyers, many of them British pensioners. The illicit developments sparked a ten year fight for justice and an ongoing campaign to have the homes made legal and included in a new general plan. At Alicante Provincial courts last Friday builder ‘HMW’, a German national, was jailed for 30 months and fined 2,400€ after being found guilty of fraud after building on a 2,600 square metre plot. The court found the constructor knew the plot of land was classed as ‘rural’ and a licence issued Victim by Lliber Town Hall was merely for the refurbishment of agricultural buildings. Ron The judge said the case was “particularly seriJones
ous” and the builder was “guided by the purpose of illicit enrichment”. Action group AULN – Abusos Urbanisticos Lliber No! – has brought a ‘class action’ involving 107 victims against a group of defendants including a former mayor and town architect as well as builders arrested in 2009, accusing them of fraud and corruption. TRIAL The case is still going through the Spanish judicial system but AULN Treasurer Ron Jones believes the Alicante trial is the first case to show the builders had done wrong. “It is the first sign that judges in Spain, the courts, will reach a judgement in our favour,” he said. “The builder has received a prison sentence and I am told the judge said it was a criminal act. “The judge decided by using these licences, issued by Lliber, it was criminal to build a house when they were issued for restoring agricultural buildings.” Ron said he had spoken to the town hall lawyer who warned another case could have a different outcome. “But how can it be different, the judge ruled it was a criminal act. Continued on page 5