Police Raid Montroy Town Hall over illegal houses

Description:

The Valencia Life Network reports...

A specialist unit of the Guardia Civil has descended on the Town Hall of Montroy in Valencia over possible corruption cases in the construction sector. The case, that had been known for over a year, centres on the construction of 83 houses on rustic land declared as non-buildable.

Yesterday investigative officers ended their second day inside the town hall, coming away with more boxes of documents. It has been revealed that the entire investigation into what happened in Montroy, at the so caled urb. Las palomas, was due to an intermediary apparently not being paid the appropriate commission.

Insiders have revealed that a certain building promoter made an official complaint against the buyers of these homes, almost all of whom were foreigners, after they had paid an initial amount, but refused to complete their full payment, owing to the electricity and water services still not having been connected to their homes.

However, during a break in the investigation, the current mayor Antonio Polo stated that this had been a continuing practice in the municipality over the past 30 years, and he also voiced the opinion that this had been a fairly common practice in at least 25 other towns such as Els Mallars that are close to Valencia.

People close to the investigation were quick to stress that no irregularities took place at all in terms of finance, just that the licences were never sought or granted and as a result amendments to the land situation are now being sought by the Town Council to declare these homes legal.

However, by late yesterday afternoon the police had taken seven people into custody, including former Mayor Javier Carrion.

Like this story? Why not use our RSS Feed and receive updates as soon as they are posted?

What is an RSS Feed?

Or join us as a member and receive a monthly newsletter.

Check out Guide2Valencia for Property, Accommodation, Events, Things to Do, News, Classifieds, Local Attractions, plus Business Listings.