A 53-year-old Majorcan chef, David Peregrina Capó, was killed last Friday along with his wife inside their Porto Seguro, Brazil restaurant. After facing multiple convictions in 2012 for fraud, abuse, and document forgery, he fled Spain and sought refuge in South America. He had been managing a bank branch in Muro between 2003 and 2004 and was involved in a scheme to defraud nearly two million euros through fake mortgages. After his escape, the Provincial Court had issued two arrest warrants, though those warrants had been previously authorized. At the time of the incident, he was running Ilha dos Ribeirinhos, a restaurant in Brazil. The couple, Érica da Silva Santos, 38, and their son, were found slain in what investigators believe was a violent robbery at the family business.
In the early 2000s Peregrina held managerial duties at a bank branch in Muro. Legal records indicate he formed an arrangement with the owner of a real estate agency during 2003 and 2004 to seed a large-scale fraud operation. Front men were enlisted to pose as home buyers in exchange for compensation.
Fictitious buyers provided forged company documents and pay stubs to project solvency and secured inflated property valuations. The plan involved marketing properties in Palma, Santanyí, sa Pobla, Inca, and Manacor. This led to 18 mortgage loans to front men, each ranging from 75,000 to 175,000 euros, culminating in asset losses exceeding two million euros.
When investigators probed the conspiracy at the end of the decade, Peregrina fled to Brazil and remained at large for two years. He later returned to Spain and faced two hearings at Palma Court in early 2012.
In February of that year he received a sentence of three years and nine months for fraud. He later received an additional sentence of two years and seven months for embezzlement and falsification of documents. These sentences necessitated imprisonment, yet Peregrina once again escaped to Brazil, evading justice. The Provincial Court issued two arrest warrants and pursued him, although sources from the Balearic Islands’ High Court later confirmed that these warrants had been repealed due to the expiration of the crimes.
Founded in Brazil
The next known chapter places Peregrina in the coastal city of Porto Seguro in Bahia, Brazil. He owned Ilha dos Ribeirinhos, a restaurant situated on the banks of the Buranhém River, where his menu highlighted paella and Spanish cuisine.
He married a Brazilian citizen, Érica da Silva Santos, and the couple had a son. They became well known in the region, and Peregrina had recently participated in several gastronomic competitions. Last Friday the pair were discovered murdered at their business, an event Brazilian police suspect was the outcome of a violent robbery.