Comedian Marcus Brigstocke used to do a routine about a particular segment of the daytime television-viewing public and the adverts designed to appeal to them. These were ads for loans for those who would otherwise not get them and claims for compensation, such as for holidays that go wrong. Or rather don't go wrong but are made to appear as if they do.
Brigstocke was biting. The people they get on these ads to sell you this stuff, he observed, "you've never seen more ropey-looking pikey fuckers in your life". It's a good case of empathetic diversity marketing. Brigstocke's, let's abbreviate them to PFs, were appealing to PFs watching the telly. And we all know the type of PF he had in mind: Benefits Street lowlife dragging their knuckles along the floor.
Let's make one thing very clear. These PFs represent only a small minority of those who go to giant, economy-class all-inclusives, but they exist in sufficient number to make the efforts of ambulance chasers, aka claims' farmers, worthwhile. And why is this type of all-inclusive targeted? Because a) there are huge numbers of tourists, b) a lot of them are British, and c) this type of PF doesn't stay anywhere else. In the process, further fuel is added to the prejudice directed at guests who simply don't merit it (because they're honest and decent). Moreover, folk who genuinely do have grounds for complaint and claims are tarred by the same brush.
The sufficient number is costing hotels in Mallorca, Benidorm, the Costa del Sol and Tenerife a small fortune. Exact figures seem elusive, as reports give different ones. According to Cehat, the national hoteliers confederation, the figure nationwide last year was fifty million euros. But now we are told that last year in Mallorca alone the figure was 50 million.
Someone is either exaggerating or underestimating. Let's just accept that the scam is costing hotels a hell of a lot of money, and it is a scam - a total scam. The PF holidaymaker can get his or her holiday paid for (plus more if lucky) simply by filling in a form, provided by the scamming claims' farmers, and offering the weakest of evidence (imodium bought from a chemist's shop). There isn't even a need to file the complaint while on holiday, such is the absurdity of UK law that permits claims to be made long afterwards and which places the burden of proof on the hotel/tour operator.
Where the claim is made via the tour operator, which it typically is, contractual arrangements allow the tour operator - rather than fight a case that might end up costing 50,000 pounds - to cough up and then subtract the compensation payment from a hotel's invoice. Hence, it is the hotels which always lose out.
As far as I am aware, there has as yet not been the type of ambulance - the Claims Clinic - parked up by Mallorcan all-inclusives as there has been in Tenerife. It may only be a matter of time, though, as in this year. Being in the midst of Alcudia all-inclusivana, I have observed what goes on, and have been given chapter and verse by tour operator reps as well. It's despicable, utterly despicable, as bad if not worse than the old scratch-card, time-share try-on and miles, miles worse than anything the lookies get up to.
There is a further major reason why all-inclusives (of a certain type) are targeted. That's because there is a vastly reduced likelihood that PFs who make claims will have eaten anything outside the hotel. Therefore, m'lud, I respectfully submit that the all-inclusive has to be responsible. Quite right, Mr. Claims Farmer, here's a three grand award for your client. From which a commission is taken.
Hoteliers, tour operators are seeking to fight back, informing prospective fraudsters that a false claim is a criminal offence in Spain. And so it is in the UK. Yet, UK courts seem duty bound to accept these frauds without smelling a rat. They will have been presented, as are tour operator reps here, with the same evidence time and time again. The same form, the same imodium.
In what other ways are they fighting back? Jet2 has its gastroenteritis questionnaire, which may well deter PFs who are too stupid to be able to fill it out. Another way is to stop doing business with the British. This may be an extreme solution, it may well not be possible, but it most certainly is being considered.
Mallorca's hoteliers know full well the businesses behind the scams. They also know about the enticements on social media. The only ones who don't seem to know are the UK's legal authorities. It's high time that they accepted their responsibilities for having permitted fraud on a grand scale and for eliminating the pikey fuckers.
Showing posts with label Fraud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fraud. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 01, 2017
Friday, February 03, 2017
The Alegality Of Fraud: Rentals
Alegality. It's not a word that's particularly common in English, but it does exist and is generally used, as would be expected, in discussions of legal matters. It also crops in respect of international business and globalisation, and is sometimes spelled a-legality. Its meaning, and I quote from the Urban Dictionary's definition, is "an unambiguously wrong, disruptive and often deliberately committed act for which there is not yet a specific law making that act expressly illegal."
The Spanish word "alegalidad" is much more commonly used. It most certainly isn't confined to arcane analyses of law. It is applied to more mundane, everyday issues, and there is a great deal of it. Alegality tumbles out of many a newspaper column inch. One has to conclude, correctly, that there is an abundance of issues for which law has not determined if acts are expressly legal or illegal, regardless of any ambiguous or deliberate wrongdoing. The mere fact that alegality crops up as often as it does leads one to also conclude that the law is often inadequate, ill-defined or not applied.
There often isn't application. Legislation, be it national, regional, municipal, can sit on the books having been approved and passed by the relevant legislatures without coming into force. This legislative inactivity is most common at the municipal level. Many are the one-time approved ordinances that one hears of which only some time later (several years in some instance) are officially adopted. In the intervening period, and despite there perhaps being previous ordinance, the potential for alegality increases, because no one is quite sure of the legal security.
The definition above is thus not always applicable locally. It isn't necessarily the case that acts are "unambiguously wrong". Yes there may be some taking advantage of a situation, but it is the essential ambiguity of legality that allows alegality to flourish, with responsibilities and powers of competing legislative bodies, to say nothing of the hierarchy of the courts' system, adding more fertiliser.
An example of mundane Mallorcan alegality was the car parking near Es Trenc. Much of what has now emerged after the ludicrously protracted process to arrive at a law for the nature park had to do with car parking. The upshot of the legislation is that plots which were once used for parking will not be, and they had been closed down because of their alegality. They weren't illegal but nor were they legal. The alegality had existed for years.
I was reminded of this legal ambiguity when rummaging through an archive of old newspaper articles. It was one from August last year. It had been kept because of its headline. It was a quote which said that "our tourism is based on alegality, illegality and fraud in law". The person who made the quote was Dr Juan Franch Fluxá from the law department at the University of the Balearic Islands.
His specific references were as follows: the alegality is exemplified by the likes of party boats; illegality can be found in the renting of apartments to tourists; fraud exists with those who use the tenancy act to rent to tourists and do so via Airbnb. "An unacceptable absurdity," he concluded.
What was interesting about Dr Franch's quote was that he didn't refer to rentals in terms of alegality. Yet alegal is how they have often been described. As an example, the CCOO union spoke at the end of 2015 of holiday properties being rented in an alegal fashion amounting to 25% of the regulated (legal) offer. The use of alegal has therefore created its own ambiguity regarding holiday rentals. But another member of the university's law department, Avel-lí Blasco, has also been unequivocal. Tourist rental in apartment buildings is not "alegal", it is "illegal".
The point is that one wonders how rentals of this type ever acquired a description of alegal. They have been proscribed in Balearic law for years, and if they hadn't been, then why was the law being used to fine owners? Perhaps it has been the case that certain interests have wished to promulgate the notion of alegality.
The use of the tenancy act is a different matter. Dr Franch's strident assertion of a fraud in law is something with which one take issue. If owners abide strictly by the terms of the tenancy act - no publicising as tourist/holiday accommodation and no services - then how can there be fraud? But what he was getting at was owners who abuse the law and seek to conceal the real intent, whether the property is being offered on Airbnb or any other website.
Rather than fraud in law necessarily, the tenancy act has created the scope for alegality insofar as it is a loophole. The national government should, indeed must, amend the act. If it doesn't, then legislation, such as that envisaged in the Balearics, will always be open to abuse. And yes, fraud.
The Spanish word "alegalidad" is much more commonly used. It most certainly isn't confined to arcane analyses of law. It is applied to more mundane, everyday issues, and there is a great deal of it. Alegality tumbles out of many a newspaper column inch. One has to conclude, correctly, that there is an abundance of issues for which law has not determined if acts are expressly legal or illegal, regardless of any ambiguous or deliberate wrongdoing. The mere fact that alegality crops up as often as it does leads one to also conclude that the law is often inadequate, ill-defined or not applied.
There often isn't application. Legislation, be it national, regional, municipal, can sit on the books having been approved and passed by the relevant legislatures without coming into force. This legislative inactivity is most common at the municipal level. Many are the one-time approved ordinances that one hears of which only some time later (several years in some instance) are officially adopted. In the intervening period, and despite there perhaps being previous ordinance, the potential for alegality increases, because no one is quite sure of the legal security.
The definition above is thus not always applicable locally. It isn't necessarily the case that acts are "unambiguously wrong". Yes there may be some taking advantage of a situation, but it is the essential ambiguity of legality that allows alegality to flourish, with responsibilities and powers of competing legislative bodies, to say nothing of the hierarchy of the courts' system, adding more fertiliser.
An example of mundane Mallorcan alegality was the car parking near Es Trenc. Much of what has now emerged after the ludicrously protracted process to arrive at a law for the nature park had to do with car parking. The upshot of the legislation is that plots which were once used for parking will not be, and they had been closed down because of their alegality. They weren't illegal but nor were they legal. The alegality had existed for years.
I was reminded of this legal ambiguity when rummaging through an archive of old newspaper articles. It was one from August last year. It had been kept because of its headline. It was a quote which said that "our tourism is based on alegality, illegality and fraud in law". The person who made the quote was Dr Juan Franch Fluxá from the law department at the University of the Balearic Islands.
His specific references were as follows: the alegality is exemplified by the likes of party boats; illegality can be found in the renting of apartments to tourists; fraud exists with those who use the tenancy act to rent to tourists and do so via Airbnb. "An unacceptable absurdity," he concluded.
What was interesting about Dr Franch's quote was that he didn't refer to rentals in terms of alegality. Yet alegal is how they have often been described. As an example, the CCOO union spoke at the end of 2015 of holiday properties being rented in an alegal fashion amounting to 25% of the regulated (legal) offer. The use of alegal has therefore created its own ambiguity regarding holiday rentals. But another member of the university's law department, Avel-lí Blasco, has also been unequivocal. Tourist rental in apartment buildings is not "alegal", it is "illegal".
The point is that one wonders how rentals of this type ever acquired a description of alegal. They have been proscribed in Balearic law for years, and if they hadn't been, then why was the law being used to fine owners? Perhaps it has been the case that certain interests have wished to promulgate the notion of alegality.
The use of the tenancy act is a different matter. Dr Franch's strident assertion of a fraud in law is something with which one take issue. If owners abide strictly by the terms of the tenancy act - no publicising as tourist/holiday accommodation and no services - then how can there be fraud? But what he was getting at was owners who abuse the law and seek to conceal the real intent, whether the property is being offered on Airbnb or any other website.
Rather than fraud in law necessarily, the tenancy act has created the scope for alegality insofar as it is a loophole. The national government should, indeed must, amend the act. If it doesn't, then legislation, such as that envisaged in the Balearics, will always be open to abuse. And yes, fraud.
Thursday, April 14, 2016
The Conde Affair: Business corruption
The Panama papers continue to supply sensational reading. Spain's society - politics, royalty, business, the arts, sports - is implicated. The names provide a who's who of the county's VIP establishment: Jóse Manuel Soria, the acting industry, energy and tourism minister; Pilar de Borbón, the King's aunt; Oleguer Pujol, son of Jordi, the former president of Catalonia; Francisco and Juan José Franco, great grandsons of the dictator; Pedro Almodóvar, film director; Lionel Messi, footballer.
Last week, when the leak was becoming a tidal wave, someone was invited onto Spanish television to discuss tax havens. He said that demagogues claim that anyone with a company registered in a tax haven is a "common criminal". There is a great deal of ignorance, he went on. These companies are audited and their taxes are paid. It was "outrageous" to condemn someone just for having a company in countries with tax advantages superior to others. He also suggested that it was "ridiculous" that Spain did not have its own tax haven. He ventured that it could be the Canaries.
A few days later, the person who had said all this was arrested. He is Mario Conde, businessman, politician and an ex-con who now - if perhaps only temporarily - finds himself once more behind bars. Conde is not cited in the Panama papers, but his arrest, coinciding as it does with the leaks, has merely served to crank up the level of outrage. Conde might believe that it is outrageous to attack those who seek advantages in tax havens, but it is far from only demagogues who have been drawing their conclusions. The outrage is great, its timing possibly crucial. The whiff of another type of corruption could yet influence the interminable goings-on with forming a new government or a second election.
Spain's society, given its love affair with football, would probably be unmoved by mention of Messi, who has after all already had his brushes with the tax man. Members of the arts world might likewise be looked upon sympathetically. Politicians and businesspeople, however, are different. And into the roll of business dishonour that there already is comes Conde. Again.
In 1997, he was originally sentenced to six years in prison. In 2001, he was sentenced to fourteen years. The following year, the Supreme Court upped this to twenty years. He went to jail but was released in 2008.
At the heart of this was the so-called "caso Banesto". This erupted in 1993. It was to do with a web of corporate corruption at the bank. Its president was Mario Conde. The actual amount that Conde and others were said to have embezzled from Banesto varies according to reports, but the figure of 26 million euros (its equivalent in pesetas at the time) is common. And his arrest centres on an anti-corruption prosecution investigation that he had been involved in repatriating to Spain more than 13 million euros.
This amount, so it is claimed, had been coming back to Spain from overseas accounts, in particular ones in Switzerland and London, in small amounts - some 3,000 euros at a time - since 1999. Seemingly, it was a very much larger sum, 600,000 euros, that alerted interest. This was a transfer from Switzerland to La Caixa Bank in 2014. It was the bank itself which, in effect, blew the whistle as it had queried the legitimacy of the transfer. A judge at the Spanish High Court, Santiago Pedraz, is now investigating a total of 15 people, including various Conde family members.
Conde always protested his innocence over the Banesto affair. It even found its way to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. There again, Conde had a record of having influential friends. They included, at the time when the Bank of Spain had to intervene with Banesto, the prime minister, Felipe González, and leader of the opposition, José María Aznar. There was also Adolfo Suárez, the man who led Spain's transition to democracy.
Judge Pedraz and the prosecution service are looking into the network of 40 companies that the Conde family had established. It is this web of businesses, plus the offshore element, that has echoes not just of the Panama papers but also the Nóos affair.
Conde is one in that roll of business dishonour. Others include Rodrigo Rato, ex-minister, ex-IMF, ex-banker; Gerardo Díaz Ferrán, ex-president of the Spanish equivalent of the CBI, co-founder of the giant Grupo Marsans; Ángel de Cabo, Díaz Ferrán's Mr. Fix-It, who headed what now seems the mysterious acquisition of the Hotetur chain (Alcudia's Bellevue and all). There are others.
The Conde affair, this Conde Nasty, just makes the stench more malodorous. It fans the flames of the fire that Podemos, among others, has started, one that has engulfed a society previously only too willingly apathetic in shrugging a collective shoulder and saying that's Spain. There's outrage all right.
Last week, when the leak was becoming a tidal wave, someone was invited onto Spanish television to discuss tax havens. He said that demagogues claim that anyone with a company registered in a tax haven is a "common criminal". There is a great deal of ignorance, he went on. These companies are audited and their taxes are paid. It was "outrageous" to condemn someone just for having a company in countries with tax advantages superior to others. He also suggested that it was "ridiculous" that Spain did not have its own tax haven. He ventured that it could be the Canaries.
A few days later, the person who had said all this was arrested. He is Mario Conde, businessman, politician and an ex-con who now - if perhaps only temporarily - finds himself once more behind bars. Conde is not cited in the Panama papers, but his arrest, coinciding as it does with the leaks, has merely served to crank up the level of outrage. Conde might believe that it is outrageous to attack those who seek advantages in tax havens, but it is far from only demagogues who have been drawing their conclusions. The outrage is great, its timing possibly crucial. The whiff of another type of corruption could yet influence the interminable goings-on with forming a new government or a second election.
Spain's society, given its love affair with football, would probably be unmoved by mention of Messi, who has after all already had his brushes with the tax man. Members of the arts world might likewise be looked upon sympathetically. Politicians and businesspeople, however, are different. And into the roll of business dishonour that there already is comes Conde. Again.
In 1997, he was originally sentenced to six years in prison. In 2001, he was sentenced to fourteen years. The following year, the Supreme Court upped this to twenty years. He went to jail but was released in 2008.
At the heart of this was the so-called "caso Banesto". This erupted in 1993. It was to do with a web of corporate corruption at the bank. Its president was Mario Conde. The actual amount that Conde and others were said to have embezzled from Banesto varies according to reports, but the figure of 26 million euros (its equivalent in pesetas at the time) is common. And his arrest centres on an anti-corruption prosecution investigation that he had been involved in repatriating to Spain more than 13 million euros.
This amount, so it is claimed, had been coming back to Spain from overseas accounts, in particular ones in Switzerland and London, in small amounts - some 3,000 euros at a time - since 1999. Seemingly, it was a very much larger sum, 600,000 euros, that alerted interest. This was a transfer from Switzerland to La Caixa Bank in 2014. It was the bank itself which, in effect, blew the whistle as it had queried the legitimacy of the transfer. A judge at the Spanish High Court, Santiago Pedraz, is now investigating a total of 15 people, including various Conde family members.
Conde always protested his innocence over the Banesto affair. It even found its way to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. There again, Conde had a record of having influential friends. They included, at the time when the Bank of Spain had to intervene with Banesto, the prime minister, Felipe González, and leader of the opposition, José María Aznar. There was also Adolfo Suárez, the man who led Spain's transition to democracy.
Judge Pedraz and the prosecution service are looking into the network of 40 companies that the Conde family had established. It is this web of businesses, plus the offshore element, that has echoes not just of the Panama papers but also the Nóos affair.
Conde is one in that roll of business dishonour. Others include Rodrigo Rato, ex-minister, ex-IMF, ex-banker; Gerardo Díaz Ferrán, ex-president of the Spanish equivalent of the CBI, co-founder of the giant Grupo Marsans; Ángel de Cabo, Díaz Ferrán's Mr. Fix-It, who headed what now seems the mysterious acquisition of the Hotetur chain (Alcudia's Bellevue and all). There are others.
The Conde affair, this Conde Nasty, just makes the stench more malodorous. It fans the flames of the fire that Podemos, among others, has started, one that has engulfed a society previously only too willingly apathetic in shrugging a collective shoulder and saying that's Spain. There's outrage all right.
Wednesday, December 03, 2014
The Peculiar World Of Little Nicholas
There are many examples of impostors. They can be as innocent as our man in the winner's enclosure or less innocent. They are not all fantasists, as some are put up to it by others, but generally that is exactly what they are - fantasists who have a need to associate themselves with the famous, the powerful or the rich. And Spain has a fantasist impostor who has had a need to associate with all three. His name is Francisco Nicolás Gómez Iglesias, better known to the Spanish media as "el pequeño Nicolás", little Nicholas, whose craving for association has gone further than mere association. His extraordinary story began to unravel in October when he was arrested and charged with fraud, forgery and identity theft.
Little Nicholas is now twenty years old, but the public display of his world of fantasy, and later deception, goes back to 2008 when, just fourteen years old, he made his first public appearance. Mariano Rajoy and the then president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, attended the celebration for the day of the community. In the video of the report of this celebration you can see Little Nicholas looking over towards the reporter, and so at the camera, and then moving towards her. He tries to obstruct her. She asks him to stop pushing her. She realises that here is a boy who is pretending to be with security.
It was a taster of what was to come because Little Nicholas, among other things, claimed to be involved with the security services, and in particular the National Intelligence Centre (CNI). It was this fantasy which was to lead to his arrest; he allegedly fabricated a document supposedly from the CNI and forged the signature of the government's vice-premier, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría.
Little Nicholas was well-known in Partido Popular Nuevas Generaciones' circles (the PP youth wing), but somehow he managed to have contacts that went way beyond this political involvement. Yes, there were politicians with whom he supposedly had close links, such as Ana Botella, the mayor of Madrid, and Sáenz de Santamaría, but there were also associations with the royal family. He had met Princess Cristina who apparently believed he could help her with regard to the "caso Noos" affair. This association with the royal household came to an end, he claims, when the CNI started to ask him to do things he didn't like. Little Nicholas had also, though, met King Felipe, and that is beyond doubt. There is a photo of him bowing in front of the new king at his coronation.
The list of contacts and associations Little Nicholas alleges to have had would take far too long to detail. The royal household and others, even including Las Vegas Sands, the promoters of the failed Eurovegas project, all deny these contacts. His claims are utterly extraordinary but there is at the back of them nagging questions, such as how he was able to, for instance, apparently be invited to the king's coronation and how it was that he was always to be seen at various events.
Little Nicholas, who seemingly craved fame, has now found it, but it is fame that has come as a result of his fantasies having got out of hand. His deceptions were used to allegedly extract commissions for "helping out" thanks to his supposed contacts. This was the case with the forged CNI document. He was using influence that he didn't actually have to defraud. Or did he have influence? The revelations are coming thick and fast and the latest involve the secretary of state for trade, Jaime García-Legaz. He admits that he might have been "imprudent". Why? Well, because Little Nicholas, then eighteen, was seemingly involved in meetings between Legaz and senior representatives of Madrid town hall at which licences were discussed. Little Nicholas's alleged frauds stem from seeking kickbacks for licences.
The Little Nicholas case has become ever more bizarre. Is he just a wild fantasist with "megalomaniac delusions", as was noted when he appeared before the judge in October? Or is there more to it? The judge herself found it, for example, hard to understand how he had attended all the various events he had without seemingly not having alerted someone to his behavour. No one ever asked, just like the man in the winner's enclosure. But many others are now wondering. Fantasist, yes, but was someone putting him up to it?
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
What A Tangled Web: Orizonia and Marsans
Orizonia is just one part of a jigsaw in what has been a story, which is still very much ongoing, of corporate wrong-doing and concealment that ranks alongside cases such as the collapse of Rumasa in the 1980s (and Nueva Rumasa very much more recently) in terms of the scale of fraud, either alleged or proven. Orizonia, which had only been formed through a buy-out from Iberostar businesses in 2006, went under with over 600 million euros of debt. Its collapse is a story in its own right, and one that I have previously written about, but it was a collapse that was a sort of corollary to the much bigger story, the failure of Grupo Marsans.
Less than three months before Orizonia filed for bankruptcy, it had been one of the companies which had been instrumental in the investigation of and arrest of Gerardo Díaz Ferrán, the former boss of Marsans. Orizonia had an interest in one particular part of the Marsans empire, the Hotetur hotel division, which was controlled by a separate holding company, Teinver. Through Hotetur, Marsans owned the Bellevue hotel complex in Alcúdia.
In late 2010, it became known that mortgages had been taken out on Bellevue. Two were for banks. The third, and the largest, at more than 30 million euros, was for Orizonia. By this time, Marsans had collapsed. Teinver and other parts of the Marsans empire had been bought in June of 2010 by an investment company, Posibilitum. The intention had been that Bellevue was to have been auctioned off in February 2011. It wasn't. But then a further option arose. This was that the management of Bellevue might be shared. Orizonia would be one partner. The other would be Al Andalus Management, which had been appointed by Posibilitum as the management company for the complex.
This option, even if it had ever been realistic, ceased to be one when Orizonia collapsed. Its hotel wing, Luabay, which would have been part of the joint-management scheme, was sold to Be Live Hotels, part of the Globalia group. But then there came the formal denuncia that Orizonia, along with Meliá Hotels, AC Hotels and Pullmantur, lodged against Marsans' owners, one of whom has since died. There was a third name on this denuncia, Angel de Cabo of Posibilitum. In the denuncia, it is stated that there were fictitious sales of companies belonging to the Marsans owners. One of them was Teinver.
What emerged was that this had all been a scheme to hide assets from creditors. They were transferred to Posibilitum. It was said that a sum of up to 600 million euros had been paid. The denuncia states that Posibilitum had capital of only one tenth of this amount in 2009.
Díaz Ferrán and de Cabo were both arrested and both sent to prison, awaiting trial. Bail was placed on both of them. In de Cabo's case, it was set at 50 million euros, an amount that was progressively reduced, so much so that in July, de Cabo was released on bail of 300,000 euros supported by assets worth double that amount. He is still to stand trial, as is Díaz Ferrán, but in the meantime, what has happened with the businesses that were caught up in this affair? Bellevue, for example.
In August 2010, Al Andalus, the company put in management charge of Bellevue, bought the BlueBay brand from Posibilitum, a brand which itself was under the Hotetur umbrella. Bellevue has since become a brand of its own, operated by BlueBay which took out contracts to lease Hotetur hotels for a period of ten years.
So, insofar as anything can be said to be clear about this whole affair as it has impacted on Bellevue (and the Lagomonte in Alcúdia), it is that BlueBay are the rightful managers of the hotel. But then who ultimately owns it? Presumably Posibilitum, despite the allegedly fictitious sale from Marsans or a sale that was not of the size which had been claimed. There again, what of that old mortgage that Orizonia had on Bellevue? Did it pass to Globalia when it bought the Luabay hotels?
Tangled web doesn't do the affair justice. It's why it has taken and is taking so long to go through various courts, not only one in Palma. For BlueBay, what does it do with Bellevue, a hotel complex which, for most of its existence, has been its own tangled web?
Photo: The Lago Esperanza from Bellevue.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Hirsts and Pollett guilty of fraud and money laundering
The trial of John Hirst and others at Bradford Crown Court has ended, sentencing to be given later this month, following the jury's guilty verdicts on Linda Hirst (for money laundering) and Richard Pollett (for fraud) and the guilty plea entered by John Hirst for fraud he committed in engineering the Ponzi scheme that operated out of Calvià and which swindled many expatriates out of millions.
See more: Huddersfield Daily Examiner
See more: Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Investor who lost 350,000 gives evidence in Hirst trial
The ongoing trial at Bradford Crown Court of John Hirst, charged with running an illegal Ponzi investment scheme based in Calvià, has heard from yacht captain Richard Bale who has said that he invested over 540,000 pounds in the scheme, for which he received under 200,000.
See more: Huddersfield Daily Examiner
See more: Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Monday, February 27, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - The Duke of Palma still has questions to answer
Finally, at 01.30 in the morning, the interrogations of the Duke of Palma (Iñaki Urdangarin) came to an end. At 04.15, he left the court, having spent further time revising papers to do with his declaration. The lawyer representing Manos Limpias, the union that had brought a "popular" action against the Duke, did not press for charges to be laid as had been expected.
Judge Castro had made it clear that he did not believe that the marathon proceedings of yesterday were the time for charges to be laid (if they are going to be). The judge, though, may well want the Duke to return to court to make a further declaration, as there were so many evasions in the Duke's responses - he did not know answers or could not remember events.
The Duke's position, that he disassociated himself from the Instituto Nóos in 2006, has become increasingly questionable. In his declaration last week, the former director of sports in the Balearics, Pepote Ballester, suggested that the Duke had not. The Duke has admitted that he phoned Ballester and his former business partner Diego Torres in 2007 regarding the payment of 400,000 euros in respect of the sports forums organised in Mallorca. There is also evidence of email contact between the Duke and Torres in 2008 regarding various projects.
The Duke has looked to make Torres culpable, arguing that Torres robbed him, and has insisted that his wife, Princess Cristina, had nothing to do with Nóos or with the Aizoon real-estate company, other than being a director. Aizoon is one of the many companies that the Duke was associated with which, it is alleged, were used for the diversion of funds.
The royal household had apparently expressed disquiet as to the length of the interrogations of the Duke.
Judge Castro had made it clear that he did not believe that the marathon proceedings of yesterday were the time for charges to be laid (if they are going to be). The judge, though, may well want the Duke to return to court to make a further declaration, as there were so many evasions in the Duke's responses - he did not know answers or could not remember events.
The Duke's position, that he disassociated himself from the Instituto Nóos in 2006, has become increasingly questionable. In his declaration last week, the former director of sports in the Balearics, Pepote Ballester, suggested that the Duke had not. The Duke has admitted that he phoned Ballester and his former business partner Diego Torres in 2007 regarding the payment of 400,000 euros in respect of the sports forums organised in Mallorca. There is also evidence of email contact between the Duke and Torres in 2008 regarding various projects.
The Duke has looked to make Torres culpable, arguing that Torres robbed him, and has insisted that his wife, Princess Cristina, had nothing to do with Nóos or with the Aizoon real-estate company, other than being a director. Aizoon is one of the many companies that the Duke was associated with which, it is alleged, were used for the diversion of funds.
The royal household had apparently expressed disquiet as to the length of the interrogations of the Duke.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Duke of Palma in court - day two
After the Lord Mayor's Show, this morning's events outside the court were quite different. It is Sunday morning after all. No more than 20 protesters, and the Duke arrived for the second day of declaration in a more relaxed mood.
The Duke is expected to insist that Princess Cristina had nothing to do with the Instiuto Nóos. Meanwhile, revelations keep emerging, the latest being the apparent existence of false invoices related to the European Games, something the Duke was involved with along with the Valencia regional government, but which didn't take place.
The Duke has said that the alleged contracting of phantom employees at the Instituto Nóos was a matter to do with his ex-business partner Diego Torres. He has admitted that he was involved with a regional government payment of 400,000 euros to the institute in respect of a sports promotional forum held in Mallorca but that the exact amount of payment was not something he controlled. He has continued to insist that he knew nothing about the network of companies with which he was said to be involved. Lunch taken at just after 14:00.
Update: The real-estate company Aizoon, in which Pincess Cristina was a partner, was the sole responsibility of the Duke, he has testified. Money from Nóos, it has been suggested, was diverted to Aizoon.
The judge lost patience at one point with the Duke's evasiveness and inability to remember, suggesting it might have been better had he not come to declare. After some 15 hours of questioning, the judge handed over to the prosecutors at around 17:30.
The Duke has accused Diego Torres of having negotiated contracts with local governments off his own back.
Update (20:30): The proceedings seem to be becoming increasingly absurd. Some lawyers are unhappy that the judge took so long in his questioning, and with others, in addition to the prosecutors, to lodge their questions, it is possible they could all be there into the early morning. How can anyone be expected to give reasonable evidence (or reasonable questions) after such a protracted session? They should call it a day and come back again. Ridiculous.
On and on they go. The judge has indicated that if there is to be an injunction served on the Duke it will not be today. There is also now a suggestion that, because of the evasiveness of the Duke, Princess Cristina may be called to declare. Thankfully, not today or nearly tomorrow. The prosecutors have just about finished their questions. It is now 23:30.
The Duke is expected to insist that Princess Cristina had nothing to do with the Instiuto Nóos. Meanwhile, revelations keep emerging, the latest being the apparent existence of false invoices related to the European Games, something the Duke was involved with along with the Valencia regional government, but which didn't take place.
The Duke has said that the alleged contracting of phantom employees at the Instituto Nóos was a matter to do with his ex-business partner Diego Torres. He has admitted that he was involved with a regional government payment of 400,000 euros to the institute in respect of a sports promotional forum held in Mallorca but that the exact amount of payment was not something he controlled. He has continued to insist that he knew nothing about the network of companies with which he was said to be involved. Lunch taken at just after 14:00.
Update: The real-estate company Aizoon, in which Pincess Cristina was a partner, was the sole responsibility of the Duke, he has testified. Money from Nóos, it has been suggested, was diverted to Aizoon.
The judge lost patience at one point with the Duke's evasiveness and inability to remember, suggesting it might have been better had he not come to declare. After some 15 hours of questioning, the judge handed over to the prosecutors at around 17:30.
The Duke has accused Diego Torres of having negotiated contracts with local governments off his own back.
Update (20:30): The proceedings seem to be becoming increasingly absurd. Some lawyers are unhappy that the judge took so long in his questioning, and with others, in addition to the prosecutors, to lodge their questions, it is possible they could all be there into the early morning. How can anyone be expected to give reasonable evidence (or reasonable questions) after such a protracted session? They should call it a day and come back again. Ridiculous.
On and on they go. The judge has indicated that if there is to be an injunction served on the Duke it will not be today. There is also now a suggestion that, because of the evasiveness of the Duke, Princess Cristina may be called to declare. Thankfully, not today or nearly tomorrow. The prosecutors have just about finished their questions. It is now 23:30.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - The Duke of Palma's day in court
Rarely has any event in Mallorca attracted as much interest as today's appearance by the Duke of Palma (Iñaki Urdangarin) at the court in Palma to face questioning over the so-called "caso Nóos". Speculation has been rife as to how the Duke will arrive at court - on foot or by car; various protest groups will be out in force, such as the Maulets (independence radicals); police will also be out in force, extra officers having been drafted in from Valencia, along with the media.
The Duke faces charges of fraud and tax evasion, his marketing organisation the Instituto Nóos being at the centre of the charges which relate, among other things, to invoices for work that allegedly was not performed but for which government agencies paid substantial amounts of public money during the last presidency of Jaume Matas; the "caso Nóos" has, in effect, become a part of the ongoing "caso Palma Arena" investigations and trials of the former president for embezzlement and fraud.
The case has embroiled the royal family, as the Duke is married to the King's daughter, Princess Cristina. Her involvement with the case, though she has yet to be indicted and may not be, is largely to do with a real-estate firm she ran with the Duke and alleged diversion of money to this firm.
Update: So, the Duke entered on foot after all, though his car had some eggs thrown at it. 500 demonstrators protested against corruption and the monarchy. The Duke said he was seeking the truth and to defend his honour. He has admitted to the judge that the King ordered him to disassociate himself from the Instituto Nóos back in 2006.
Update: Prior to a break for lunch at 14:00, the Duke was asked mainly about the various companies that are cited in the case and with which he had associations.
The Duke has said that he did not take decisions where these companies were concerned but that the management was left to his former business partner Diego Torres and that involvement he had was confined to matters to do with sport.
Update: The Duke has said that he did meet with Jaume Matas and the former director of sport for the Balearics, "Pepote" Ballester at the Marivent palace where they discussed governmental financial support for a cycling team run by the bank Banesto and for which his company could act in marketing. It seemed a good idea to the Duke who claims that arrangements were left in the hands of Diego Torres.
Update: The Duke has declared that money from Nóos went to Belize for a foundation for sick children. The judge has indicated that he wants to finish the interrogation of the Duke today, which could mean the court session lasting to almost midnight.
Update: Showing how complex the affairs of the Duke were, questions have arisen regarding a settlement of 300,000 euros through one of the Duke's companies Global Corporate, itself linked to the Belize foundation. Global Corporate has two subsidiaries in the USA in addition to a Spanish base.
Update: Judge Castro has called a halt to proceedings at just after 20:00. Everyone will be back tomorrow at 09:30. Cue more demos no doubt.
The Duke faces charges of fraud and tax evasion, his marketing organisation the Instituto Nóos being at the centre of the charges which relate, among other things, to invoices for work that allegedly was not performed but for which government agencies paid substantial amounts of public money during the last presidency of Jaume Matas; the "caso Nóos" has, in effect, become a part of the ongoing "caso Palma Arena" investigations and trials of the former president for embezzlement and fraud.
The case has embroiled the royal family, as the Duke is married to the King's daughter, Princess Cristina. Her involvement with the case, though she has yet to be indicted and may not be, is largely to do with a real-estate firm she ran with the Duke and alleged diversion of money to this firm.
Update: So, the Duke entered on foot after all, though his car had some eggs thrown at it. 500 demonstrators protested against corruption and the monarchy. The Duke said he was seeking the truth and to defend his honour. He has admitted to the judge that the King ordered him to disassociate himself from the Instituto Nóos back in 2006.
Update: Prior to a break for lunch at 14:00, the Duke was asked mainly about the various companies that are cited in the case and with which he had associations.
The Duke has said that he did not take decisions where these companies were concerned but that the management was left to his former business partner Diego Torres and that involvement he had was confined to matters to do with sport.
Update: The Duke has said that he did meet with Jaume Matas and the former director of sport for the Balearics, "Pepote" Ballester at the Marivent palace where they discussed governmental financial support for a cycling team run by the bank Banesto and for which his company could act in marketing. It seemed a good idea to the Duke who claims that arrangements were left in the hands of Diego Torres.
Update: The Duke has declared that money from Nóos went to Belize for a foundation for sick children. The judge has indicated that he wants to finish the interrogation of the Duke today, which could mean the court session lasting to almost midnight.
Update: Showing how complex the affairs of the Duke were, questions have arisen regarding a settlement of 300,000 euros through one of the Duke's companies Global Corporate, itself linked to the Belize foundation. Global Corporate has two subsidiaries in the USA in addition to a Spanish base.
Update: Judge Castro has called a halt to proceedings at just after 20:00. Everyone will be back tomorrow at 09:30. Cue more demos no doubt.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Hirst affair interests local media
The investigations by the Serious Fraud Office and the consequent trial in the UK of John Hirst and Richard Pollett, the two main accused in the fraud resulting from a Ponzi scheme that Hirst operated, are attracting the attention of the "Diario de Mallorca", which gives some background to the affair for which the five accused all deny accusations and which will come to trial in June. Some 70 people in Calvia were affected by the scheme which started in 2001 and which involved investments of anything from eleven thousand to over 200 thousand euros.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - John Hirst court date set
John Hirst, the former resident of Calvia who ran a Ponzi scheme and who is charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, is due to appear at Bradford Crown Court on 13 April.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - More on the butane scam arrests
The Guardia Civil has today released further information regarding its investigation into fraudulent butane-gas inspections that have been perpetrated across the island. Eleven people have been arrested, with 50,000 euros said to have been defrauded, and the company under investigation has been named as Tiansol System S.L. The company was apparently formed in September last year. This may suggest that it, or those involved with it, was potentially a new player on the butane-scam scene, and that other organisations who carry out this scam are still knocking around. While the Guardia's intervention is to be applauded, it may be that wariness still needs to be applied in case other similar, fraudulent businesses are operating.
Monday, February 21, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Guardia action against butane scam
The Guardia Civil has launched an operation investigating suspected fraud committed by a Palma company that sends inspectors to check gas installations and which can result in exorbitant charges. This practice of inspection, by companies which claim to be undertaking necessary checks when they are not and which will have personnel without necessary qualifications, has long been a matter of concern, owing to the number of people who have been duped.
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
The Chinese Take-Away
The glory that is corruption in Mallorca. The glory and the sheer stupidity. Gloriously stupid. The "Pasarela" operation into what the hell has been going on at IBATUR, the regional government's tourism promotion agency, has unearthed one of the more bizarre of all the questionable practices.
If you were to want to have translated the acronym IBATUR into Mandarin Chinese, how much do you reckon it would cost? Six letters, that's all, but let's be generous as Chinese "letters" are of course nothing like our own. There is generous, though, and there is generous. Would you say that six thousand euros was a fair payment? No, you probably wouldn't, and nor would the investigators say it was fair either. Which is why they are rather keen to understand why this amount was trousered by one Felip Ferré who just so happens to be a nephew of ... you might have guessed it ... disgraced former president, Jaume Matas, and who also happens to be implicated in yet another corruption case. The six grand was paid to him by the tourism ministry.
There are other strange questions arising from this investigation, such as one related to ten thousand euros paid to someone to come up with a study into the benefits of golf on the islands, a study that was compiled with information lifted straight from the internet. This may not be in the class of a dodgy dossier based on a PhD thesis, but it is equally stupid, as in did someone really believe that it might not be found out, like six grand for translating six letters might not be found out.
Then you have what was going on at the Fundación Balears Sostenible with its stupid green card, the "tarjeta verde". Let's be generous where this is concerned as well, and say that it was a highly altruistic means of providing discounts while at the same time promoting the natural glories of the islands. It was, however, really intended as a way of raising dosh, once the old eco-tax was kicked into the Mediterranean and drowned with the outcry that the tax had caused. How much do you reckon it raised? According to the audit for 2008, it brought in - to the Fundación, charged with its administration - the massive amount of 13,524 euros. It is believed that there has been a shortfall of some 400,000 euros, some of which can be explained, it is alleged, by the fact that hotels selling it have simply not handed over the money (and of course the hotels have been hounded for back-payment of the eco-tax during its shortlived and crazy existence). Set against the lack of revenue are the costs which have given rise to losses on the venture of over a million euros a year. In the hotels' defence, it is being said that the card had little success with tourists, which is probably true. At ten euros a pop, it may have seemed to offer benefits, but was just another example of how such a discounting approach doesn't work.
This may not necessarily indicate anything fraudulent - at the Fundación - but it smacks of inefficiency, to say the least. Which brings us to another question - that of pallets and pallets of publicity material on behalf of the Fundación which were stashed away in store and never used.
Corruption and inefficiency. Fraud and waste. Different they may be, but they are two sides of the same coin - the one that was spent and spent by an extravagant and uncontrolled public sector, especially the tourism ministry. One says "was", as one can but hope that this is no longer the case.
* Acknowledgement to "The Diario" for different reports that informed the above.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
If you were to want to have translated the acronym IBATUR into Mandarin Chinese, how much do you reckon it would cost? Six letters, that's all, but let's be generous as Chinese "letters" are of course nothing like our own. There is generous, though, and there is generous. Would you say that six thousand euros was a fair payment? No, you probably wouldn't, and nor would the investigators say it was fair either. Which is why they are rather keen to understand why this amount was trousered by one Felip Ferré who just so happens to be a nephew of ... you might have guessed it ... disgraced former president, Jaume Matas, and who also happens to be implicated in yet another corruption case. The six grand was paid to him by the tourism ministry.
There are other strange questions arising from this investigation, such as one related to ten thousand euros paid to someone to come up with a study into the benefits of golf on the islands, a study that was compiled with information lifted straight from the internet. This may not be in the class of a dodgy dossier based on a PhD thesis, but it is equally stupid, as in did someone really believe that it might not be found out, like six grand for translating six letters might not be found out.
Then you have what was going on at the Fundación Balears Sostenible with its stupid green card, the "tarjeta verde". Let's be generous where this is concerned as well, and say that it was a highly altruistic means of providing discounts while at the same time promoting the natural glories of the islands. It was, however, really intended as a way of raising dosh, once the old eco-tax was kicked into the Mediterranean and drowned with the outcry that the tax had caused. How much do you reckon it raised? According to the audit for 2008, it brought in - to the Fundación, charged with its administration - the massive amount of 13,524 euros. It is believed that there has been a shortfall of some 400,000 euros, some of which can be explained, it is alleged, by the fact that hotels selling it have simply not handed over the money (and of course the hotels have been hounded for back-payment of the eco-tax during its shortlived and crazy existence). Set against the lack of revenue are the costs which have given rise to losses on the venture of over a million euros a year. In the hotels' defence, it is being said that the card had little success with tourists, which is probably true. At ten euros a pop, it may have seemed to offer benefits, but was just another example of how such a discounting approach doesn't work.
This may not necessarily indicate anything fraudulent - at the Fundación - but it smacks of inefficiency, to say the least. Which brings us to another question - that of pallets and pallets of publicity material on behalf of the Fundación which were stashed away in store and never used.
Corruption and inefficiency. Fraud and waste. Different they may be, but they are two sides of the same coin - the one that was spent and spent by an extravagant and uncontrolled public sector, especially the tourism ministry. One says "was", as one can but hope that this is no longer the case.
* Acknowledgement to "The Diario" for different reports that informed the above.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Flash - Ahh, Ahh (John Hirst Again)
Without even reading reports about the John Hirst case, one can guess at the language. "Shockwaves through the expatriate community", and so on and so on. Of the reporting there has been, some has been over the top. Technically, comparisons with Bernard Madoff may not be inaccurate, but the scale is completely different.
There are many people who stand to lose their savings as a consequence of Hirst's activities. They should have sympathy, but one does have to ask, did they seriously believe an investment opportunity that yielded 20% regardless of market conditions? It would appear that some did. Many of you will probably be thinking that they were gullible and naïve. Maybe they were, but they are still deserving of sympathy, and now is not the time to be haranguing them for a lack of wisdom.
It should be stressed that this is as yet an alleged fraud, and that it is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, but the circumstances of Hirst's sudden flight from Mallorca, having trousered some 20 million quid, were bound to raise suspicions. And these, unfortunately, seem to have been confirmed. There are voices from the south which, disbelieving of what has transpired, think that all might yet be ok. Perhaps all will be, and investors will get their money back. Perhaps it's all been a mistake. Time will tell, but if you look at the footnote to this piece, you might draw a conclusion - or more than one.
More than any criminality, what does this story tell us about the expat community, as it is largely this community that has been apparently taken in? The news reporting is quite revealing and, inevitably, falls back on the default lexicon that gets hauled out at such times. The community is "tight-knit", we are told. Is it really? Or is it isolated, a social phenomenon of convenience?
The picture that is painted is of an artificial sub-society centred on the social world of the cricket club and dinners. Of the Rotary and the English Speaking Residents Association. With the exception of the latter, it could be a leafy Surrey town where the community is that un-tight-knit that home mobility is a means to a better school and that parking the car at the local cricket club is an exercise in one-upmanship. John Hirst, we are told, was not a "flash git". Five-bedroom villa, a Merc, a "state-of-the-art snooker room" and a wedding that went on all weekend. There is flash, and there is flash. It does all rather depend on your point of your view. But the chances are that, by comparison in that pretend tight-knit community, he was not.
Some of you may recall the short-lived "storm" caused by an article in "The Daily Mail" (6 October 2008: The Life Of Riley). This was, in part, a condemnation of the vacuity of expat living, as experienced by some in the more expensive parts of Calvia. The Mail was accused of playing fast and loose, and the article may indeed have been an exaggeration, but the press love this sort of expat exposé stuff as it satisfies a prejudiced and jaundiced impression of the expat which does, nevertheless, have some basis in fact. With the Hirst case, you are getting it all, including some crookedness (allegedly). Jeremy Clarkson will doubtless be feeling vindicated.
Within these thrown-together sub-societies, there emerge the John Hirsts of this world. "A man about town," we learn. Playing the network, playing the scene, and all for his own ends - once again, allegedly. There is one sense in which the community can be said to be tight-knit, and that is its propensity to "do business" with its own. And so you get people willing to hand over their life savings to one of their own.
I sincerely hope that everything does prove to be ok. That it has all been a mistake. But whether it ends up in tears or in joy, the story is far more than one of an alleged wrongdoing. In terms of social commentary, it is one of the more important stories you will come across.
Footnote - John Hirst and Allied Dunbar?
The note about this case yesterday made the visits to the two versions of the blog go ballistic. There have been several comments, which I have held back, related to a Mr. Hirst and a fraud involving Allied Dunbar (as was) in the early '90s. I am grateful to all these commentators, but please do understand why I might hold back what you say.
Edward Woodward
On a quite different matter. Two days ago, I mentioned Edward Woodward. It was perhaps rather unfortunate, as he has of course died. Total coincidence, and a sad one as The Wicker Man stands the test as one of the great films and Woodward was, well, Woodward. Shame.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Chris Farlowe, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNyAzuB1-rE. Today's title - dead easy this one.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
There are many people who stand to lose their savings as a consequence of Hirst's activities. They should have sympathy, but one does have to ask, did they seriously believe an investment opportunity that yielded 20% regardless of market conditions? It would appear that some did. Many of you will probably be thinking that they were gullible and naïve. Maybe they were, but they are still deserving of sympathy, and now is not the time to be haranguing them for a lack of wisdom.
It should be stressed that this is as yet an alleged fraud, and that it is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, but the circumstances of Hirst's sudden flight from Mallorca, having trousered some 20 million quid, were bound to raise suspicions. And these, unfortunately, seem to have been confirmed. There are voices from the south which, disbelieving of what has transpired, think that all might yet be ok. Perhaps all will be, and investors will get their money back. Perhaps it's all been a mistake. Time will tell, but if you look at the footnote to this piece, you might draw a conclusion - or more than one.
More than any criminality, what does this story tell us about the expat community, as it is largely this community that has been apparently taken in? The news reporting is quite revealing and, inevitably, falls back on the default lexicon that gets hauled out at such times. The community is "tight-knit", we are told. Is it really? Or is it isolated, a social phenomenon of convenience?
The picture that is painted is of an artificial sub-society centred on the social world of the cricket club and dinners. Of the Rotary and the English Speaking Residents Association. With the exception of the latter, it could be a leafy Surrey town where the community is that un-tight-knit that home mobility is a means to a better school and that parking the car at the local cricket club is an exercise in one-upmanship. John Hirst, we are told, was not a "flash git". Five-bedroom villa, a Merc, a "state-of-the-art snooker room" and a wedding that went on all weekend. There is flash, and there is flash. It does all rather depend on your point of your view. But the chances are that, by comparison in that pretend tight-knit community, he was not.
Some of you may recall the short-lived "storm" caused by an article in "The Daily Mail" (6 October 2008: The Life Of Riley). This was, in part, a condemnation of the vacuity of expat living, as experienced by some in the more expensive parts of Calvia. The Mail was accused of playing fast and loose, and the article may indeed have been an exaggeration, but the press love this sort of expat exposé stuff as it satisfies a prejudiced and jaundiced impression of the expat which does, nevertheless, have some basis in fact. With the Hirst case, you are getting it all, including some crookedness (allegedly). Jeremy Clarkson will doubtless be feeling vindicated.
Within these thrown-together sub-societies, there emerge the John Hirsts of this world. "A man about town," we learn. Playing the network, playing the scene, and all for his own ends - once again, allegedly. There is one sense in which the community can be said to be tight-knit, and that is its propensity to "do business" with its own. And so you get people willing to hand over their life savings to one of their own.
I sincerely hope that everything does prove to be ok. That it has all been a mistake. But whether it ends up in tears or in joy, the story is far more than one of an alleged wrongdoing. In terms of social commentary, it is one of the more important stories you will come across.
Footnote - John Hirst and Allied Dunbar?
The note about this case yesterday made the visits to the two versions of the blog go ballistic. There have been several comments, which I have held back, related to a Mr. Hirst and a fraud involving Allied Dunbar (as was) in the early '90s. I am grateful to all these commentators, but please do understand why I might hold back what you say.
Edward Woodward
On a quite different matter. Two days ago, I mentioned Edward Woodward. It was perhaps rather unfortunate, as he has of course died. Total coincidence, and a sad one as The Wicker Man stands the test as one of the great films and Woodward was, well, Woodward. Shame.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Chris Farlowe, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNyAzuB1-rE. Today's title - dead easy this one.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Monday, November 16, 2009
The John Hirst Case
This will doubtless be a story for some days to come. If you're not up to speed with it, here goes.
John Hirst was an investor who lived in Santa Ponsa, well-known on the Calvia scene and in particular at the Mallorca Cricket Club in Magaluf. On Friday, the Serious Fraud Office in the UK announced that it had launched an investigation into Hirst's firm, Gilher Inc. The suspicion is that he has defrauded mainly British expats of some 20 million pounds as investors in a scheme he said would yield 20% returns, irrespective of market fluctuations.
Hirst left Mallorca in August, and those who had invested in the scheme began to have their concerns, which led to the SFO's involvement. Hirst is said to be in the UK and to be suffering from leukaemia.
Expect more on this.
Original story from "The Sunday Times":
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6917139.ece
John Hirst was an investor who lived in Santa Ponsa, well-known on the Calvia scene and in particular at the Mallorca Cricket Club in Magaluf. On Friday, the Serious Fraud Office in the UK announced that it had launched an investigation into Hirst's firm, Gilher Inc. The suspicion is that he has defrauded mainly British expats of some 20 million pounds as investors in a scheme he said would yield 20% returns, irrespective of market fluctuations.
Hirst left Mallorca in August, and those who had invested in the scheme began to have their concerns, which led to the SFO's involvement. Hirst is said to be in the UK and to be suffering from leukaemia.
Expect more on this.
Original story from "The Sunday Times":
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6917139.ece
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