In the south of Tenerife, in the municipality of Arona, a judge has ordered the reopening of a case involving large-scale fraud with expensive real estate. The investigation was previously suspended due to a judicial error, but new evidence has prompted the proceedings to resume.
The scheme revolved around the use of fake notarial powers of attorney, allegedly issued in Russia. Using these documents, the perpetrators managed to sell eleven high-end properties without the owners’ knowledge. Furthermore, the fraudsters gained access to victims’ bank accounts using forged paperwork.
The entire operation was based on forging Russian notarial documents and manipulating apostilles. In Spain, Timofey Shilov acted as the seller and closed deals on behalf of the victims, while the buyer was the fictitious company Ramos Royalty, registered to another suspect—Ángel Gastón Ramos. To legalize money transfers, the fraudsters even invented a fake Russian branch.
The case also mentions Olesya Rishko, who tried to withdraw funds from the victims’ accounts by presenting forged documents. The Russian notary office denies issuing the disputed powers of attorney, and the Russian company registry found no record of Ramos Royalty LLC. The bank named in the documents has also not confirmed opening accounts in the referenced names.
The scandal became public in the autumn of 2022, when eight villas in a residential complex in Playa Fañabé (Adeje) were taken over by new ‘owners’ without the consent of the actual property holders. To continue the investigation, the judge requested the assistance of Russian authorities to confirm the forgery of powers of attorney. However, the process is complicated by European Union sanctions against Russia.
One of the victims, Boris Zhuravlev, reported that more than two hundred appeals were sent to various Spanish and EU institutions demanding that the case not be closed. He believes that this incident should draw attention to the problem of real estate fraud.
Currently, about 3,700 Russian citizens live in Tenerife, most of whom are concentrated in the island’s southern tourist areas such as Arona and Adeje.
