House in Marbella and money in Andorra
In the Valencia County Court’s Fourth Chamber, a man was found guilty of deceptive conduct resulting in a two-year prison sentence and ordered to pay 7,500 euros in compensation to a woman who had trusted him. The court did not convict him of forgery of a commercial document, since prosecutors failed to prove that crime beyond a reasonable doubt, despite accusing him of it during the proceedings. The ruling marks a decisive outcome in a case centered on manipulation through a fake identity and pretense of affluence, impacting a relationship that had endured for several months.
The defendant and the victim reportedly met in June 2017, beginning what the court characterized as an emotionally driven affair. After a short period of contact, the man from Las Palmas moved into the girlfriend’s home in a municipality within the Valencia province, establishing a domestic setting that would later be exploited for financial gain. The decision outlines how his personal narrative grew into a carefully crafted illusion meant to persuade the victim of his supposed wealth and connections.
According to the court’s findings, between July and September 2017 the defendant portrayed himself as a solvent individual who claimed to have work in Marbella and to lead a luxurious life in a high-end urban area. He presented himself as a professional footballer with substantial funds and bank deposits both in Andorra and Spain. To sustain the illusion, he produced a forged document labeled a “professional football deal with Levante UD,” together with a bank statement purportedly containing his personal data and another statement asserting a balance exceeding 96,000 euros. The court stressed that these documents were never used in actual commercial transactions; they served solely to impress the victim as part of the scam’s deception.
On the pretext of a temporary liquidity shortfall, the detainee requested the victim to hand over up to 7,500 euros, offering assurances tied to time-limited savings in the bank as a return on the supposed arrangement. The court’s account portrays a predatory pattern: a forged love story intertwined with a fabricated professional profile to extract money from the victim.
The ruling emphasizes that the deception was conceived at the outset of the relationship. When contact was first made through social networks, the defendant appeared to probe the victim’s financial situation, later calculating whether she was employed or financially capable. The court described the scheme as a blend of a convincing image of success and a counterfeit romance that propelled the demand for funds. The overall objective was to obtain money while maintaining the impression of mutual affection.
The judgment notes that the affected party believed the implied relationship and the stories of wealth, and that the defendant retained the funds while projecting his economic capacity and promising repayment in return. The decision remains subject to appeal before the Civil and Criminal Division of the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, as indicated by the court, offering an avenue for further examination and review of the case. The court’s conclusions leave room for subsequent judicial actions related to both civil and criminal considerations within the regional system.
Overall, the case underscores how forged documents and a crafted persona can be used to manipulate a vulnerable party in a romantic context, resulting in legal consequences for the perpetrator. It also highlights the legal process in which a charge of forgery did not proceed to conviction, illustrating the standards of proof required for different offenses and the role of the judiciary in assessing fraudulent behavior tied to personal relationships. [Attribution: regional judicial reporting]