A
ll about
www.theolivepress.es
OLIVE PRESS
Discover marvellous Manilva with our special pullout inside
The
GIBRALTAR
Vol. 7 Issue 194
www.theolivepress.es
The Rock’s ONLY free local paper
A
WHIRLWIND tour of Manilva will take you far and wide in just a few square kilometres. You might start by gazing out at luscious
DRAW: Manilva’s St Anne’s
and the nearby view
around a whitewashed And on your journey youvillage. will meet a kaleidoscope of people from all walks of life, each with a story to tell. Manilva officially
March 2023
The booming coastal hotspot of Manilva has delights for all but retains its Spanish flavour, writes Walter Finch
has the highest percentage y a c h t s Spain, with of Brits on the padron in bobbing by ter of the between a third and a quarthe glitzy hailing from16,000-strong municipality Blighty. port, or the But it’s not just Brits - foreign, glistening sea residents, settled many from northern Europealong a peace- an countries, make up 42% of Manil- Spanish - and very often halting Spanful beach trail. declares - nowhere gets glish. va’s population. And then In spite it’s the cinnamon. They a ten. “I think “We come get it just right.” minutes lat- va is notof these high numbers, Manil- doner Richiehere for the sangria,” Lon- El Castillo gets its name from the castle tells simply an expat colony er you could at all. - not shade of a Spanishthe Olive Press in the that guards its sea walls. Built in 1767 bar near El Castillo, find yourself The district has a strong and thriving a tiny fishing settlement buzzing with by engineer Miguel del Castillo and among roll- Spanish builder Jose Vargas, it was Spaniards and foreigners. culture financed by ing green lives extremely and community that “We go around to all the towns along Sevilla businessman Francisco Pauliharmoniously and hills popu- cordially with their foreign guests. very the Costa del Sol,” his friend Siobhan no. lated by lux- The locals The fortification was adds. “We even and the foreigners mix ury villas, or mingle and give the sangriasgo as far as Algeciras. I war against the English planned with in the same bars and in each place a score burgeoning rants and restauGibraltar having fallen in mind, with the pitter patter of conver- out of ten.” v i n e y a r d s sation ly-formed United Kingdomto the newAnd how much did dances between English just half a and in El Castillo? “Oh, she give the sangria this is a nine,” she Continues on Page 2
BREAKFAST - GRILLED
MEATS - FISH & SEAFOOD
tel: 673 71 89 65
restauranteguru2023@g
mail.com
Bajo Lado Playa, C.Duquesa de Arcos, 59, San Luis de Sabinillas
Quiz Night - Mon Jingo - Thurs Karaoke - Fri Live Music - Sat Fresh Tapas and home cooked meals SERVED DAILY tel: 666 73 54 01 Calle Duquesa de Arcos, Manilva
March 22nd - April 4th 2023
N
U -T U R FREE
Manilva, Sabinillas and Duquesa
ONE BIG FAMILY
THE Eastside Tunnel under the runway is due to finally open at the end of March, 15 years after the construction project started. It will mean cars entering the British Overseas Territory will come into the city through Eastern Beach and Devil’s Tower Road. Pedestrians and bicycles will continue to use the runway crossing. The new 1.2 km dual carriageway will end the traffic jams created by landing planes during peak hours. Visitors will now be greeted by the ever expanding Devil’s Tower Road building complex as they enter Gibraltar. Years of legal wrangling with Spanish developer OHL delayed the tunnel being finished. Its completion will allow the National Stadium to go ahead as planned. But the stadium development will force the government to relocate the College of Further Education, knock down the old Bayside School and the old Blands Avis buildings.
HEALTH bosses in Gibraltar will no longer require people who catch COVID-19 to self-isolate at home. Director of Public Health Dr Helen Carter said it was now ‘the correct time’ to remove the legal requirement as infections were ‘mostly causing mild disease’ and immunity was high in the community. But she said it was her ‘strong advice’ people who catch the coronavirus isolate for at
FREEDOM! least five days and ‘limit social interactions’, especially with ‘vulnerable’ groups. Dr Carter said there were ‘no new variants of concern globally’ at this time. “I am satisfied that it is the correct time to introduce these changes to self-isolation rules,” she said.
Liquidators probing whether Globix is ‘a fraud or Ponzi scheme’ while Olive Press names its beleaguered boss, believed to have fled to Barcelona THE Gibraltar courts have stepped in to probe a suspect crypto trading platform amid allegations it was a Ponzi scheme. It comes as a UK liquidator was brought in to close down Globix, which is suspected of defrauding hundreds of investors in Spain and Gibraltar out of as much as €70 million. At an explosive investors meeting, hosted by former leader of the opposition Daniel Feetham KC this week, the finger was firmly pointed at Globix owner, Damian Carreras (pictured). Gibraltarian Carreras, who ran his unregulated crypto company via Gibraltar and the British Virgin Islands, vanished last year with up to €70 million owed to investors. As the Olive Press revealed a fortnight ago, the company crash was linked to the kidnapping of one of his partners, Russian Pavel Sidorov, in Alicante, last year. London-based liquidator Begbies
EXCLUSIVE By Walter Finch
Traynor is now trying to establish and locate the assets of Carreras’ company ‘Miracle World Ventures Limited’ and various linked businesses. The insolvency team is trying to establish if Globix was a fraud, while primarily recovering any assets it can find.
Meeting
“Was Globix a scam? Good question,” insolvency expert Adrian Hyde, of Begbies, told dozens of investors gathered for the online meeting. “We know it's been suggested it was a Ponzi scheme,” but he added it was ‘too early’ to answer the question. He also denied the liquidators were in any way connected to Carreras and were ‘working for’ the Gibraltar courts. But Hyde made it clear that they would go after the assets and property of individuals who may have ‘received ALL AREAS huge gifts from COVERED the company’, even if it meant bankrupting 4G UNLIMITED them first. INTERNET The Olive Press can reveal that IDEAL FOR the 39-year-old STREAMING TV CEO of Globix is currently hiding ALSO out in BarceloIPTV, na after fleeing
SKY + THE DOCTOR +
Serious savings on currency transfers to and from Spain
SATELLITE TV
Scan here for your customised quote:
“The COVID-19 infections in our community are mostly causing mild disease and immunity is high because of our successful vaccine programme.” Only people who work at or visit family or friends at the hospital or elderly people in their residential homes will need to take more care. “We will continue to closely monitor these trends and reintroduce regulations if necessary,” Dr Carter added.
WHERE’S THE MONEY?
X
Tunnel vision
!
RESIDENTS in Gibraltar will now be able to drive in Spain without a separate international licence and vice-versa. It follows a Spanish Cabinet decision to recognise UK licences for those visiting Gibraltar’s neighbouring country. Spanish drivers visiting Gibraltar will get the same equal treatment. The deal gives a new six month period for Gibraltarians legally resident in Spain to exchange their licences without needing to take a theory or practical test. Thousands of expat Brits had waited expectantly for this decision across Spain, often unable to use their vehicles without having to go through the arduous process of getting a new licence from scratch. Gibraltarians, like Brits, who are resident in Spain will only need to get a medical test to check reactions and eyesight in order to get their Spanish licence. The Spanish Cabinet decision allows the exchange of information between Gibraltar and Spain about vehicle ownership for road crimes.
NOW
Licence to ride
952 147 834
tel: (0034) 952 763 840 info@theskydoctor.com www.theskydoctor.com
from furious investors in Gibraltar. Carreras, who speaks fluent Russian, studied Economics at Tambov University, in Russia, where he met his business partner Sidirov, with whom he set up Globix in 2021. He lists himself as a ‘crypto mining broker’ on his LinkedIn profile and claims to have worked in the energy sector, as well as for the Ministry of Defence. When we finally tracked down Carreras for comment he told the Olive Press: “I have nothing to say to you.” He added: “Basically someone is shit stirring and if you have any evidence send it to me.” It was a kidnap attempt on Sidirov last June by angry investors frozen out of their funds that first alerted authorities that something was amiss with Globix. In the kidnap, Sidirov was snatched with his girlfriend outside their El Campello villa, before they contacted police. It was during the attack that Sidirov was able to send an estimated €40m to Ukraine in a crypto-wallet. Third-party financial administrator European Financial Planning Group was brought in last June once Globix had run into trouble and stopped allowing creditors to withdraw their funds. They announced in a letter to investors that they had agreed a plan with Sidirov to receive copies of the codes to the crypto wallets containing Globix assets. They also said they had implemented a dual control system over payments which would require two parties to sign off on outgoings. But with the kidnap attempt on Sidirov and the crypto keys allegedly
being sent to Ukraine, the situation spiralled into chaos. “We were hired to do a job, and we did a job,” EFPG majority shareholder Tom Fraser told the Olive Press. “It’s in the hands of the liquidators now.” A source in the Gibraltar business community said that the story had sent shockwaves around the peninsula since it was published by the Olive Press last week.
Tel: 952 147 834
See pages 5 & 11
TM
Discussion
“Everyone is talking about it and wondering who is involved and who set the company up,” said the source, who asked not to be named. “It’s a great story and will definitely gather heat.” A statement issued by the liquidators regarding Miracle World Ventures Limited (In Liquidation) operating as ‘Globix or Globix Cash’ announced that Brian Robert Simpson, Adrian Hyde and Joanne Wild, of Begbies Traynor (the Liquidators), were appointed on March 10. It read: “Following their appointment, the Liquidators are making contact with all known creditors and investors/customers, who should expect to be contacted over the coming two days. “In the meantime, if interested parties have any questions or matters that they wish to raise with the liquidators, they should contact: globixliquidationteam@btguk.com