President of residents' association on the Costa investigated for misappropriating 65,000 euros by renting out communal areas

A court has processed preliminary proceedings to assess whether he had committed crimes of fraud, unfair administration and false documentation

Irene Quirante

Malaga

Wednesday, 26 March 2025, 08:15

A court in Torremolinos is investigating the president of a residents' association in the Puerto Marina area of Benalmádena for allegedly installing three ATM cash machines in the residential complex, for which he did not have authorisation. It is believed that he appropriated around 65,000 euros through this operation. The judicial authority has processed preliminary proceedings to clarify whether the man committed crimes of fraud, unfair administration and false documentation.

The defendant installed two ATMs at the beginning of 2019. The suspicion at the moment is that he did so to commercially exploit them, without paying any rent or grant to the association at least until 2021.

To do this, the defendant signed contracts between a company, of which he is the owner and sole administrator, and the company responsible for the installation of the ATMs. According to the evidence gathered, he received a remuneration of 850 euros per ATM per month. Over time, this amount rose to 1,000 euros.

Similarly, in April 2022, the defendant allegedly signed a novation contract stating that the distributor - his own company - was the owner of the premises and had the owner's authorisation to transfer the use of the locations for the operation of the ATMs.

However, as stated in the order, there is no record that he actually had an authorisation to rent the spaces. On 30 June 2022, he signed a third contract to install a third ATM, the remuneration for which was also 1,000 euros per month. In this way, his company would have received a total of 64,735 euros for the service of the ATMs until 15 September 2023.

In addition, the court is investigating whether the defendant presented a "false" rental contract, drawn up for the sole purpose of seeking a favourable resolution during the legal proceedings. There is no record that this document was presented to the residents' meeting. In addition, the person who appears in the contract as president of the community was, in reality, the administrator of the complex at the time, who does not recognise his signature.

The case came to light when residents lodged a complaint with the police in 2023. According to them, the defendant explained that the installation of the ATMs in communal areas would be of economic benefit to their association. Later, when questioned at a residential meeting, the man said that the ATMs did not belong to the community.

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