Property cheat jailed in Alicante

A ROGUE property developer who defrauded British families out of £500,000 (€655,000) for homes in Benidorm that were never built has been jailed for six years.

German developer Heinz Wilfert was sentenced at the hearing in Alicante for duping his clients into believing he had permission to build houses in the inland village of Sagra, near Benidorm on the Costa Blanca, when in fact he knew that it was “highly improbable” that building work would ever start.

Seven UK families handed over cash to the property cheat, with one family paying more than £100,000 (€131,000) for a house in the estate that was to be called Oasis Verde.

According to MailOnline, judges trying Wilfert said that he acted the way he did, “to enrich himself with money the buyers paid him.” The court acquitted two men who took over Wilfert’s firm as the victims said the only person they had dealt with was Wilfert.