The Supreme Court endorses the conviction of two men for defrauding a friend in the purchase of a well in Tenerife



The Supreme Court (TS) has endorsed a ruling by the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in Tenerife that in 2021 sentenced two men to four years in prison and to return 141,000 euros to another man, a doctor by profession, who had been swindled by both, one of them a very close friend and patient of his for years.

The latter advised him to invest 135,000 euros that he had collected from an inheritance in the purchase of 50% of the shares of a water well located in Arafo (Tenerife).

Both in the first instance and now it is considered proven that the friend, together with the other convicted person and seller of the shares, deceived the doctor, represented by the lawyer Beatriz Fariña, and assured him that the exploitation gave benefits of around one million euros a year.

Given the full trust that the scammed man had with his friend, he did not hesitate to carry out the investment without suspecting that both had agreed to deceive him.

The money was transferred to the owner of the shares while the supposed friend and patient of the victim signed a proxy contract in Seville on behalf of the doctor, a document that he never saw.

Soon after, they begin to demand that he pay 2,500 euros a month, of which he knew nothing, but he also realizes that it is necessary to invest four million in works and pay debts while the promised subsidies did not arrive.

The buyer accepts the contract termination clause and indeed the seller signs a promissory note for 135,000 euros that he was never able to collect, for which additional expenses of 6,500 euros were generated.

During the trial, held in May 2021 at the Tenerife Court, the doctor assured that he felt cheated and that he had been convinced by means of reports and documents that strongly endorsed significant profitability.

But the truth is that when the first suspicions began to arise, he spoke with the person who had the other 50% of the shares and he was surprised by the investment, since he had never made a profit.

The TS considers it proven that the complainant was the victim of a “fraudulent machination” and that, to consummate it, the two convicted men took advantage of the fact that the doctor was profane in a matter of wells to convince him to pay this money.

Multiple convictions for fraud

The friend then declared that he did not even act as an intermediary, but simply put the convict in contact with the other convicted person, who was already in prison at that time for a similar crime, an argument that has already been rejected by the Court and now by the Supreme Court.

The truth is that both scammers add another six more sentences for fraud, misappropriation, crimes of road traffic and documentary falsification.

The seller maintained that he could not pay the promissory note due to the economic problems he was going through and that he sold the shares because he was in the gas station sector and could not take care of the well, and he assured that the documents shown to the buyer to convince him to pay up the money were true and that the profitability of the exploitation was as promised.

At that time, the Prosecutor’s Office accused them of fraud, requested 5 years in prison and the return of 135,000 euros plus another 6,500, which correspond to the expenses generated by the return of the promissory note.

During the hearing, the complainant said that he had been a friend of the convicted person since 2005, knew his wife, went to his office and had dinner together, so “we had a great friendship, it was not the typical doctor-patient relationship.”

When he received the inheritance, he initially thought about setting up a car racing business and asked his friend to become partners, but he told him that investing in the well was safer.



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