The project to create a luxury terrace in the port area of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which promised to be the jewel of the island’s nightlife, has turned into a complex case of aggravated fraud and document falsification. What entrepreneurs from the groups GTA S.L., MC S.L., and R 1983 S.L. believed to be a golden opportunity to exploit the Chicharrero coastline turned out to be a legal scheme designed to drain their accounts. The Public Prosecutor’s Office, according to documents accessed by this newspaper, is requesting six years in prison for the mastermind of the scheme, ERBV, and four years for his collaborator, DLVdA.
The deception was built on a seemingly impeccable but non-existent bureaucratic foundation. The accused presented investors with a series of resolutions and permits that, on paper, bore the stamp of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Coastal Service, and the capital city council. With these falsified documents, they simulated that the project already had the necessary concessions to occupy the port land and the activity licenses for immediate opening. Under this false security, the victims transferred a total of 422,800.70 euros intended for the supposed launch of the business.
However, the documentary trail revealed that the reality in the port was one of absolute void. Subsequent inquiries confirmed that none of the involved administrations had ever issued such permits and that the ambitious nightlife complex on the waterfront of Santa Cruz was nothing more than an administrative ‘mirage’. The capital contributed, which investors believed was protected by the strength of the port institutions, disappeared into a web of private contracts for the sale of 50% of a business that never had a legal basis.
The resolution of the case is now in the hands of the Provincial Court, with the focus on the restitution of the defrauded amounts. The Public Prosecutor’s Office demands that the accused jointly compensate the affected administrators —DJAH, IMC, and RJMA— with the total sum of the defrauded capital plus accrued interest. This process highlights the vulnerability of private investment in the port areas of the Canary Islands when due diligence is entrusted to unscrupulous individuals.
