The prosecution expects that most of the hundred victims of the massive real estate scam will recover their homes.

BarcelonaThe prosecution expects that most of the victims of the massive real estate scam with more than a hundred victims so they can recover their homes. On Monday, the 17 people involved in the scam accepted sentences ranging up to four years and seven months in prison—the highest sentences were given to a lawyer and a notary—and next week the court will decide how to resolve the civil liabilities in the case. In cases where the victims cannot recover their properties, the Public Prosecutor's Office has requested that they be compensated with the current value of the apartments.

Between 2009 and 2015, this group targeted people, often elderly, with little legal knowledge and who were experiencing financial difficulties. They offered them a loan, but in reality, once at the notary's office, instead of a loan, they signed the sale of their home for far below market value. All those involved have confessed to the fraud, and it remains to be seen how to compensate the victims. Legal sources affirm that many of those affected will be able to recover their homes once the property registry has declared the purchase agreements they signed, believing them to be loans, null and void. The Barcelona Bar Association (ICAB), which is acting as a private prosecutor in the case, also expressed this view. More than a decade has passed since the frauds, and while some apartments are now occupied by straw men or other individuals linked to the defendants, others are currently inhabited by third parties who purchased the properties in good faith, unaware of or involved in the deception. In cases where those affected cannot recover their apartments because someone uninvolved in the fraud is living there, the Public Prosecutor's Office wants them to be compensated with the current value of the properties, with insurance companies covering the costs. In fact, in the plea agreement in which the defendants admitted to the fraud, they also requested that the victims be able to recover their assets by declaring the deeds null and void. Both the confession and this request to repair the damage caused were key to the agreement, which resulted in a substantial reduction of the sentences compared to what the prosecution had initially requested.

Threatened by evictions

Many of the victims didn't realize they'd been scammed until they were about to be evicted. The trial took years to come, and even during the investigation, the prosecution intervened to halt the evictions. This also meant that some people who had bought the homes without being involved in the fraud were never able to move in.

While most of the defendants accepted a sentence for being part of a criminal group led by lawyer Francesc Comitre, notary Enrique Peña is not considered a member of this group. However, his notary's clerk was. In the notary's case, the sentence is for repeatedly failing to fulfill his obligation to monitor the transactions he authorized, in accordance with notarial regulations and anti-money laundering legislation. Peña has been permanently barred from practicing law because he "massively ignored" this obligation and also failed to adequately inform those signing documents about what they were authorizing. In fact, sources close to the case claim that the notary barely profited from this scheme, only receiving the amount he charged for the deeds.