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As it reaches a century, we bring you 6 of Spain’s best Art Deco buildings in our property magazine

Find out which hidden corners (including the brothels) of Cordoba were mentioned by Cervantes

OLIVE PRESS Vol. 8 Issue 204

DECO DOZEN

As the Art Deco movement reaches a century celebrate Spain’s , we contribution

ONCE a towering neies power plant titan of industry, the iconic Tres XemeBarcelona’s cultural is set to become the beating future. heart of The 1970s relic, named after its (that’s Tres Xemeneies three in Catalan), has colossal chimneys since it shut down been gathering dust But not for much in 2011. de Seta Bonet longer. Architecture dream dazzling visualsArquitectes and Marvel have team Garces name borrowed of their wild new vision: E la just released nave va - a Out goes coal from a classic Fellini flick. and in comes creativity. mation will morph This bold transfordia City’, a buzzingthe hulking plant into the ‘Catalunya MeThe mammoth turbinehub for media, tech, and public arts. ght out of London’s hall will be reborn - with vibes Tate straiModern Armory. and NYC’s Park Avenue We’re talking 17-metre ceilings, epic sound and enough flexible studios, labs, fests to virtual reality free space to host everything from film showcases. And the origins it still producingof the station have not been crown the roof, power - 4,500m² of solar forgotten, with panels are to shrink its carbon and its smart eco-friendly design footprint. will help “This is about turning an industrial past re,” said architect into a cultural futuJonathan Marvel. the Med and Badalona, And it’s looking like with views over second act will the power plant's be nothing short of electric.

SWEET DEAL

IT was a clever way to utilise waste product a try in Andaluciafrom a local indusA team from . Spanish and British universities have worked out way to create a eco-friend ly building materials from Andalucia has become the centre of a sugarcane. groundbreakin g The group and Armor Gutierrez using sugarcane sustainable building project (far left) befrom gan exploring the instead of concre Universias a potential agricultural waste te construction matety of East rial. By Tom Ewart which release Smith London The project carbon into the mosphere. at- dustrial-sc is now exploring in( U E L ) ‘bagasse’, ale the In contrast, their and tion, which Sugarcrete producthe extracting fibrous pulp left after bon project sugarcane juice. in the new building traps car- million squarecould utilise up to 8 B aga c e i r a Their metres of sugarcane materials, plantation Project, in ucts research found that prod- reducing environme s in southern Spain. ntal impact. made from this Barcelona , formed CARBON TRAPS: Estimates claim waste outper- Made by combining bagasse The Sugarcrete it will capture traditional concrete sand, the with w o r k e d clay car- bricks used at Burning Man and print six bricks have a carbon foot- bon emissions equivalent bricks. Festival out how to Bagasse to 46,000 times lower than cars. Further research conven- If given is typically tional clay repurpose fuel is planned in the go or used as cattle burned for The projectbricks. turn a number ahead the team will Granada this summer, while feed, both of launched in 2022 have already of former they UEL researcher when used the s Alan Chandler factories into bio-based concrete build a school in India product to production hubs, boosting as well as a prototype at the the local economy. tival in the US. Burning Man fes-

MALLORCA

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JAIL FOR JODY Costa restaurateur found guilty of fraud after scam linked to €35 million CWM scandal EXCLUSIVE By Jon Clarke & Walter Finch

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of disgrace Petrol bombs and bullets, Directorment firm rakes in €1million for her battle an Olive Press dispatch6 manage of British claimants businesses while trio and depression from Barcelona Page financial ruin, cancer

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fashion deA WELL-KNOWN expat of receiving up signer has been accused Costa to €1million from an unlicensed company. Blanca financial advisory name were Companies in Jody Smart’sContinental given the money by defunct in the two Wealth Management (CWM) collapse years’ before its high-profile an estimated investors of hundreds left it can be re€20million out of pocket, vealed. paid was A total of €999,435 Bell to her fashion label JodycomSL and property holdingSL bepany Mercurio Conpro tween 2015 and 2017, according to bank statements shown to the Olive Press. paid Brit Jody, 43, was also a €144,000 salary - despite not telling a court that she ‘didbe a know what it meant to and sole director of company’ was only involved in ‘marketing and PR’. decIn a series of shocking larations given to Denia’s it No.3 Court of Instruction has emerged that the compathese ny could ill afford to pay

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CONFUSION reigns over who should foot the bill for Mallorca hotels hit by the collapse of airline Monarch. Balearic hotels are facing a €10million bill over the collapse that saw the emergency repatriation of over 110,000 back to the UK, many from Palma. Administrator KPMG told the Olive Press ‘the debt owed by Monarch to hoteliers will rank as an unsecured claim’ against the defunct airline. “They will have to file a claim to the joint administrators for all the money they are owed,” said a spokesman. “It has not been determined (yet) how much money will be available to creditors.”

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Power grab SPAIN’S PP party has set out audacious plans for a power grab to take back control from Valencia and the other autonomous regions. Leader Pablo Casado announced his commitment to strengthen the central government’s role in the run up to the national elections in a fortnight. He insisted that such a move would prevent corruption and lead to a drop in taxes. It comes as the party attempts to see off the threat from an insurgent Vox Party, whose leader has described the autonomous parliaments as the ‘cancer of Spain’. Under the plan, the PP wants to increase resources for regional government delegations and paralyse any further transfer of power to the regions.

Supremacy

Casado insisted the move would see Spain being administered ‘more effectively’. The election hopeful stated that his party would carry out a sweeping review of how the regional authorities operate looking at ‘efficiency and equity.’ Spain’s quasi-federal political system of ‘autonomous states’ was added to the constitution in 1978. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose party drafted the constitution, strongly opposed the plan, insisting the PSOE would defend ‘tooth and nail’ the principal of regional self-government.

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However, he added ‘at the very least, Spanish property continued to grow the data suggests that the last year.’ Mortgage lending to home buyers meanwhile was up 6.1% in January to 19,390 new loans, according to the Association of Spanish Notaries. The average new loan made in January an increase of 0.9% in a year. As long had a value of €135,616, residential acquisitions continues to as mortgage lending for increase, as it has done for the last few years, the Spanish property market is set to grow.

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2017

What do Fatboy Slim, director Paul Haggis, John Travolta, Dean Norris and Pilou Asbaek have in common? They’ve all had links to the Balearics this week

Govt in exile

EXCLUSIVE By Joe Duggan

Pension peril

BRITISH expats who lost up to €20 million in a failed pension advisory firm believe their Fight signatures may have been photocopied onto investment docuGiven the whole extradition ments. Brits, most living process can take up to 60 Around 300 battling to retrieve days, it means he may have in Spain, are Alicante-based to run his entire election their funds after Wealth Manrying’. campaign for the Catalan firm Continental folded in Sep“This negates the very essence me they knew what they were European Democratic Party agement (CWM)reported in the of the service they are meant to doing.” tember, as first from Belgium. offer,” said Flores. “It is a blank He added: “I believe some of ago. His party wants him to fight Olive Press a monthleft for Auscheque to invest wherever, the investments were made for continued leadership of Boss Darren Kirby whenever. without my knowledge. I think the closure of the regional parliament in tralia following main Javea of“If standard practice, this is that is the case because I do not the company’s the December 21 elections. very worrying. recall signing sheets for all the has gone down by half and I Puigdemont denied he had fices. “Signing blank documents investments I had.” spread across need compensation to get it would be seen fled to Brussels to avoid jus- Victims, who are An email, seen by the Olive Spain, as well as in Ibiza, Malback on track. as irregular in a tice but that he left because Press, shows CWM asking a clilorca, Portugal, France and “But some people court of law. The the Spanish government was ent to sign and return a blank illegal practices with have lost everyproblem preparing a ‘wave of oppres- Turkey, fear dealing instruction. to sign blank thing and don’t these firms is that sion and violence’ against after being asked Another British expat, 55, who dealing instructions. have enough to they were all inseparatists. is trying to recover around pots were then in highly live on. One re“I’m absolutely convinced Their pensionhigh-risk assets €200,000, said some pensionPENSION vesting invested in tired victim only investments that the state was preparing ers ‘have lost everything’. to pay out large OUTRAGE risky has €50,000 left without the clia harsh wave of repression which promised “My paper work that I sent commissions. from €480,000.” ents knowing.” for which we would have all has been altered, my risk level One 69-year-old pensioner Andalucia-based He claimed that been held responsible,” he was changed from ‘medium’ to told the Olive Press he lost lawyer Antonio losses sustained said yesterday. ‘high’ and my dealing instrucwhose €210,000 after transferring investors Flores, by “The Spanish state is comtions have been photocopied Lawbird €470,000 despite stating he BOSS: Kirby now in firm would hopefully mitting a brutal repression… repeatedly for buying and sellrepresenthad a ‘low to medium aversion Australia are recoverable be if we don’t battle repression ing assets I didn’t authorise,” to risk’ attitude to investment. ing some CWM together, the Spanish state as the investments that failed he said. “I was asked, ‘Can you sign this he said. victims, said signing blank inmay win this fight.” to perform, or went bust, were have been looking “I still have some money left We will fill in the “They should vestment sheets was ‘very wor15:36 In a show of support to the blank form. 16/06/2017 linked to life insurance policies. 1 but they were just and I am still young enough to out for me Untitled-1.pdf trusting they deposed president, around details.’ I did thatbest interests,” feathering their own nests. To get compensation, but my fund Pension trustees Momentum 200 Catalan pro-indepen- would act in my and Trafalgar are now attemptdence mayors travelled to ing to recoup CMW clients’ Brussels on Tuesday to stage losses. a rally. The Olive Press has so far been unable to discover if CWM was SPECIALIZING IN: registered to provide investment advice with Spain’s offiCRIMINAL LAW C cial financial regulator CNMV. Voted BEST

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A PALMA thief is facing 18 months in jail for stealingCY a leg of ham. CMY Prosecutors are requesting the lengthy term for taking K the eight kilogram leg of 'Cinco Jotas' ¡ jamon from a shop in the capital. The Iberico ham is valued at €685, and has yet to be recovered.

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Expats who lost millions rage at ‘unauthorised’ deals involving ‘worrying’ signing of blank sheets

CATALUNYA’S beleaguered leader has vowed to fight on from abroad. It came after Carles Puigdemont handed himself in to Belgian police when a European arrest warrant was issued. He and four other politicians are accused on charges of rebellion, sedition, misuse of public funds, disobedience and breach of trust. A judge in Belgium now has up to two weeks to decide if they will extradite the group to Spain.

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Confusion reigns

SPAIN’S prime minister has accused Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont of causing ‘confusion’ after signing a declaration of independence. Mariano Rajoy demanded he clarify if he had really declared independence following Tuesday’s nail biting address to the Catalan parliament. If so, Rajoy insisted he could trigger Article 155 of Spain’s constitution to allow Madrid to take direct control of Catalunya. “There is an urgent need to put an end to the situation that Catalunya is going through - to

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As Spain celebrates Hispania Day, the Olive Press runs a rule over Columbus SEE PAGE 10

Expats lose millions in life savings through

Brits’ life savings.

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PENSION OUTRAGE

CONFUSION reigns over who failed should foot the bill for Mallorca investment hotels hit by the collapse of airscheme line Monarch. Balearic hotels are facing a EXCLUSIVE €10million bill over the colBy Joe Duggan lapse that saw the emergency repatriation of over 110,000 back to the UK, many from HUNDREDS of BritPalma. Administrator KPMG told the ish expats are battling Olive Press ‘the debt owed by to retrieve their penMonarch to hoteliers will rank sions after losing up to as an unsecured claim’ against £20 million in a failed pension investment OFF TO OZ: Boss Kirby the defunct airline. and (above) team at “They will have to file a claim to scheme. the joint administrators for all Spanish-based finan- March charity bash the money they are owed,” said cial advisory firm Continental Wealth Mana spokesman. “It has not been determined agement (CWM) folded Many of them had (yet) how much money will be last month obliterat- transferred their private UK Untitled-1.pdf pensions available to creditors.” 1 16/06/2017 ing many 15:36 heartbroken

through the company,

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SEE PAGE 20

whose boss Darren Kir- It is believed at least by has now allegedly 300 of CWM’s 900 clients have had their moved to Australia. pots One deciCosta-del-Sol- pension based expat told the mated, with victims to end up back in BritOlive Press he sunk shocked to later dis- ain on benefits.” £59,000 through cover the value of their “I have nothing but CWM, only realising he investments had plum- praise for Tony Barnett had lost £39,000 when meted dramatically. [Trafalgar MD] and his pension trustees However, a source Stewart Davies [Moclose to the case insent a statement. mentum chef execu“I couldn’t believe it. I sisted: ‘There are still tive]. They have been have lost thousands of many customers who magnificent in trypounds,” revealed the are happy with their ing to recoup people’s victim, asking to re- pension portfolio.’ A n d a l u c i a - b a s e d money.” main anonymous. The Olive Press un“The adviser kept tell- tax specialist Angie derstands it is highly ing me, ‘This is guaran- Brooks, a leading ex- possible legal action teed, it can’t go below a pert on pension lib- may be taken by some eration schemes and certain level’.” His money, and that of the founder of Pension parties against CWM, others across Spain and Life, has now launched France, was put into a fight to help get vichigh-risk ‘professional tims’ money back. investor only’ assets, it She is working alongside pension trustees has been claimed. Trafalgar International and Momentum Pen- based out of headquarters in Alicante, and its sions. “People are terribly executives. distressed,” Granada- Both the office in Javea based Brooks told the and the website have Olive Press. “They have recently shut. lost large amounts of When the Olive Press their retirement sav- spoke to boss Kirby he ‘definitively’ ings.” denied She added: “Some of responsibility over the these people are going crash. “I have lost my world,” he said. A close associate of Kirby’s told the Olive Press former CWM staff were all ‘very upset’. “It is still quite raw for them, and they are working out what to do next,” he said.

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HOW WE TOLD IT: Our 2017 reports England.” The Olive Press exclusively revealed how CWM abruptly folded in 2017, losing hundreds of expats’ life savings in the process. The firm, which was based out of the Marriott Hotel, in Denia, had ‘eight to ten’ telesales staff and clients scattered around Europe, revealed a

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former member of staff. “It was a prestigious place but one day they just shut the door,” she said, asking not to be named. Victims had raised fears about being asked to sign blank dealing instructions and their pensions being invested in high-risk assets which paid large commissions. One pensioner based on the Costa Blanca told the Olive Press he lost €210,000 after transferring €470,000 despite stating he had a low to medium risk attitude. “I was asked, ‘Can you sign this blank form. We will fill in the details.’ I did that trusting they would act in my best interests,” he said. “They should have been looking out for me and they were just feathering their own nests. To me they knew what they were doing.” Lawyer Antonio Flores, whose firm Lawbird is representing a number of victims, said signing blank investment sheets was ‘very worrying’. “This negates the very essence of financial advisory services,”said Flo-

NO SHOW: Darren Kirby res. “It is a blank cheque to invest wherever, whenever. “It is very worrying as they were investing clients’ money in highly risky investments as well as dubious funds just because they paid the higher commissions.” He added that losses sustained by investors should however, be recoverable as the investments that failed to perform, or went bust, were linked to life insurance policies. When the Olive Press finally got hold of Kirby in October 2017, he denied all responsibility. “I have lost my world,” he said. Are you a victim or former staff member? Do you know more about the case? Contact the Olive Press at newsdesk@theolivepress.es

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Judge set to take further steps after expat boss of suspect investment company fails to turn up at court

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THE beleaguered boss of a failed wealth management company which allegedly lost expats more than €20 million has ignored a summons to court. Darren Kirby, of Alicante-based Continental Wealth Management (CWM), failed to turn up at Denia court on March 26. According to Olive Press sources he was due to turn up, alongside former business partners, who did turn up. The case involves a trio of investors, who lost substantial amounts of money when the company folded in 2017. Kirby allegedly fled to Australia following the collapse, finally returning to Alicante last year. “Darren has been sent a Burofax which he didn’t sign for, so the court will now have to pursue him in other ways,” a source said. “A judge is dealing with this and it’s under legal review,” he added. “We understand he is currently in

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ROCK STEADY

HE average property price in Spain has grown for Prices two consecutive years for the first time rise for two consecutive years, The national average house price rose in a decade. from between while mortgage values continue to 3.9% to 8.4%, according to grow Along the Mediterranean coasts andvarious sources. on the islands, where Balearic Islands. most foreigners buy, the average price hike has been 4.06%, ac- “Prices have cording to Tinsa, Spain’s leading property been rising most years since the recovery appraisal company. but nothing like began, But the figures have mostly not yet they did in the boom during the long six year recession, made up for the big drops enough to claw back the ground lostyears, and nowhere near with the exception of the respected in the bust,” explained analyst Mark Stucklin, of Spanish Property Insight.

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’S accused prime ministe Catalan r has Puigdemont leader sion’ after of causing Carles ‘confuof indepe signing a declara tion Mariano ndence. clarify if Rajoy deman ded he he had independence really day’s nail followingdeclared Catalan biting addres Tuesparliament. s to the If so, Rajoy insisted trigger he Article constitution 155 of could Spain’s take direct to allow Madrid control of to “There Catalunya. is an urgent put an end need to Catalunya to the situatio n is going through that - to Continu 7

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It is believed at least whose boss Darren Kir- 300 of CWM’s 900 by has now allegedly clients have had their decipots moved to Australia. pension Costa-del-Sol- mated, with victims to end up back in BritOne based expat told the shocked to later dis- ain on benefits.” Olive Press he sunk cover the value of their “I have nothing but through investments had plum- praise for Tony Barnett £59,000 CWM, only realising he meted dramatically. [Trafalgar MD] and had lost £39,000 when However, a source Stewart Davies [Mohis pension trustees close to the case in- mentum chef execuEXCLUSIVE By Joe Duggan sent a statement. sisted: ‘There are still tive]. They have been “I couldn’t believe it. I many customers who magnificent in tryhave lost thousands of are happy with their ing to recoup people’s HUNDREDS of Britpounds,” revealed the pension portfolio.’ money.” ish expats are battling victim, asking to re- A n d a l u c i a - b a s e d The Olive Press unto retrieve their penmain anonymous. tax specialist Angie derstands it is highly sions after losing up to “The adviser kept tell- Brooks, a leading ex- possible legal action £20 million in a failed OFF TO OZ: Boss Kirby ing me, ‘This is guaran- pert on pension lib- may be taken by some investment and (above) team at pension teed, it can’t go below a eration schemes and parties against CWM, scheme. bash certain level’.” the founder of Pension Spanish-based finan- March charity His money, and that of Life, has now launched cial advisory firm Conacross Spain and a fight to help get victinental Wealth Man- Many of them had others was put into tims’ money back. agement (CWM) folded transferred their pri- France, pensions high-risk ‘professional She is working alongUK vate obliteratlast month 15:36 16/06/2017 1 Untitled-1.pdf only’ assets, it side pension trustees ing many heartbroken through the company, investor has been claimed. Trafalgar International based out of headquarBrits’ life savings. and Momentum Pen- ters in Alicante, and its sions. executives. “People are terribly Both the office in Javea distressed,” Granada- and the website have based Brooks told the recently shut. Olive Press. “They have When the Olive Press lost large amounts of spoke to boss Kirby he denied their retirement sav- ‘definitively’ ings.” responsibility over the She added: “Some of crash. “I have lost my these people are going world,” he said. A close associate of Kirby’s told the Olive Press former CWM staff were all ‘very upset’. “It is still quite raw for them, and they are working out what to do next,” he said.

September 2017 collapse seeking crim- after CWM’s from initial three British claimants are fraud, fake left him with just €22,000 ₤800,000 inal charges for aggravatedto a criminal investments of more than accounting and belonging (approx €900,000). with depresorganisation. Davison was diagnosed into losses’. concern bungled house sion just weeks after the collapse, before huge sums ‘without falling that doz- The complaints unpaid loans and failed turning to alcohol abuse and developWorse, it comes as it emerges claimand penni- transactions, to a video investments that lost the ens of victims left destitute ing type-2 diabetes, according firm are suing pension them. his death. before less by the Denia-basedpartner Darren ants over €1million between just and Davison, trag- shot Smart and her former One of the victims, Mark July this year His body, covered with lesions for up to 59, in Kirby. sores, had lain undiscoveredheat at his courts, ically died, aged the reach to case In the first a week in the mid-summer home in Sanet. what had been “Mark died as a result of a feldone to him,” Timothy Benjamin, by the Olive Press. In documents seen €3,391,873 of low claimant, told the Olive the daylight want didn’t he end the Press, CWM was paid “By insurance commission for selling by two Cyto appear.” felt ‘ashamed’ bonds and investments Benjamin, 67, likewise private penfirms, between financial €250,000 prus-based after he lost his 2017. into ‘risky’ October 2015 and September sion, reinvested by CWM statement from A January 2019 investments, via QROPS. he told the revealed Spain’s financial regulator In his official testimony ₤325,000 were sold in insurance bonds court how he had transferreda property breach of the law. that this money (€375,000 approx) from the firm was What is certain is sale to CWM on the basis for its key Pego. funded a ‘lavish lifestyle’ who were investing it in a villa in Monte₤200,000 players Kirby and Smart, from 2011 But court papers revealed account of in a relationship together to former went directly to the bank 2 to March 2017, according Continues on Page staff members.

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CONFU life savi in SION reigns should foot over who throughngs hotels hit the bill for Mallor failed ca inve line Monarby the collaps e of airstm Balearic ch. scheme ent €10millionhotels are facing a lapse that bill over the colrepatriationsaw the emerge EXCL ncy of over back to By Joe USIVE 110,000 Dugga Palma. the UK, many n from Administrator HUN DRED Olive Press KPMG ish expat S of Brit‘the debt told the Monarch to retrie s are battli to hotelie owed by as an unsecu ng ve their rs will sions the defunc red claim’ rank £20 after losin penagainst g up to millio n “They will t airline. pensi in a failed the joint have to file a schemon inves tmen the moneyadministrator claim to e. s for all t OFF TO OZ: Span ish-b a spokes they are owed,” and (abov Boss Kirby cial advis ased said “It has man. e) team - March tinen tal ory firmfinan (yet) hownot been determ at charity Conbash available much money ined agem ent Weal th Manto credito will be last (CWM ) Many rs.” folde mont

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whos e by hasboss Darre n now allegeKir- It is belie move 300 of ved at One d to Austr alia. dly clien CWM ’s least Costa -del-S ts based 900 pensi on have had their Olive expat told ol- mate pots the d, with £59,0 Press he sunk decishock victim s CWM ,00 throu gh cover ed to later only realis the had lost dis- to end £39,0 00 ing he inves tmenvalue of their ain on up back in his pensi ts had benef its.” Britwhen mete d dram “I plum sent a stateon trust ees Howe ver, atical ly. - praishave nothi ng ment . “I could e for Tony close to a sourc but have lostn’t belie ve Barn ett the case e [Traf algar thous andsit. I sisted : ‘Ther MD] poun ds,” in- Stewa rt Davie and of many custo e are still ment um revea led victim , s [Moare mers the askin happ main anon who tive]. Theychef execu g pensi on y with their ymou s.to re- A magn have “The advis n d a l uportf olio.’ ing toificen t in been er kept ing me, cia-b recou p trytell- tax speci teed, it ‘This is guara peop le’s alist a s e d mone y.” Brook s, can’t go certa in a leadi Angie The Olive belownh oblite d trans of them level’ .” ing many ng ex- derst Untitle a pert on pensi Press His mone ferre d d-1.pdf rateratio n had other unBrits ’ life heart on lib- possi ands it is y, and vate 1 their broke 16/06/2 schem ble legal highl y that of the found pri- Francs acros s UK savin gs. n throu 017 es may pensi gh15:36 the comp ons high- e, was Spain and Life, has er of Pensiand parti be taken by actio n put into a fight now launc on es again some any, inves risk ‘profe st CWM to help hed ssion tor tims’ get vic, has been only’ asset al She mone y back. claim ed. s, it is work side pensi ing along on trust Trafa lgar Inter natio ees and nal sions Mom entum Pen- based out “Peop. of headq ters in distre le are terrib Alica nte, uarexecu tives. and its based ssed, ” Gran ly Both Brook s adathe office Olive Press told and the . “They the recen lost large webs in Javea tly shut. ite have amou ntshave When their of ings.” retire ment the Olive sav- spoke to Press She added boss Kirby ‘defin itivel these peop : “Som he y’ respo nsibi denie d le are e of crash lity over going . “I the have world ,” he said. lost my A close assoc Kirby ’s Find out told theiate of Press more on Olive form er staff page XX 20 set’. were all ‘veryCWM up“It is Ave de Gabrie for themstill quite l Roca 4, Palma work ing , and they raw next, ” he out what to are do said.

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was behind the fraud of one victim of €300,000 under the false pretence of purchasing a property. Along with colleague Alan Gorringe, who has since died, Smart also defrauded another victim of €70,000 through a sham loan agreement. The court ruled Smart was the sole administrator of Continental Wealth Trust, while the court also named her then-husband, Darren Kirby, as being in on the scheme. W h i l e S m a r t was involved w i t h C W M when it collapsed in 2017, Kirby was the sole adminis-

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trator and was thought to be the mastermind. Smart, who describes herself on Instagram as a ‘fashion designer, wellness expert, philanthropist, wedding planner’, also runs a successful beach club, Oceana, in Benissa. Victims claim she founded her fashion label off the back of the many people she scammed out of their life savings through the CWM investment scheme. On Instagram she flaunts her glamorous lifestyle on foreign trips to Greece, Thailand and Venice. The victims meanwhile - at least one who committed suicide after losing his life savings - have had to wait nearly a decade for justice after a series of delays. But, the sentence, issued by Alicante’s Audiencia Provincial court, is being seen as a massive victory for the victims and could now open the floodgates to many more. Incredibly, at least half a dozen other senior CWM figures have so far managed to evade justice. Angie Brooks, a pension expert, who the Olive Press has worked alongside to expose the decade-long fraud, said she was ‘delighted’ at the judgment. “It’s great news, I’m happier than

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SHE was best friends with TV star Denise van Outen and had more shoes than notorious Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos. But the glamorous life of fashion designer Jody Smart has come to an abrupt end after she was found guilty of fraud in Spain. Smart - aka Jodie Pearson - will now swap first-class trips to New York’s fashion week for a Spanish jail cell for the next three-and-a-half years. An Alicante Court ruled she was beOLIVE hind part of the PRESS notorious €35 million Continental Wealth Management (CWM) swindle and must pay €370,000 to two victims. Judge Francisco Javier Guirau also found her guilty of conning a third victim, Mark Davidson, out of €930,000, however tragically he passed away before the verdict was reached. Smart told the Olive Press the frauds were ‘a consequence of loans between individuals, in which my…signature does not appear.’ Her lawyer added it is ‘uncertain she will end up in prison’ as he launches an appeal this week. The court however, established that Smart

GLOBE TROTTER: But her travels have been ended by a Spanish judge I’ve been in seven years,” said Brooks, who helped to guide the long complicated class action. “It’s been a seven-year battle, back and forth to the court in Alicante from my home in Granada and it’s cost me a fortune in legal fees. “At least some justice has been done and she will have to cough up nearly half a million euros in damages and fees.” She continued: “Incredibly, Darren Kirby has, so far, managed to get off as he was not a director or a shareholder in the company.” A separate court in Denia ruled there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to Established 1989

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prosecute four other senior figures of CWM in a decision that devastated the victims in 2023. “It was complicated and the judge couldn’t get her head around it and threw the case out,” explained Brooks. “But now we are bringing a much bigger, stronger case against them.” She continued: “We will send out a shuddering message to the pension industry.” The Olive Press is aware of other civil cases meanwhile being brought in the Isle of Man. Opinion Page 6

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