Carlos García Roldán, known as Charly, was found curled up inside a kitchen cabinet under his mother’s sink in Calella after months on the run. The Guardia Civil arrested him on September 10, 2026, ending a manhunt that had begun in December. La Vanguardia and Última Hora reported that he failed to appear for sentencing late last year.
García Roldán had been sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison for running a €3.3 million scam targeting 240 people hoping to buy homes. Through his agency, Lujocasa, he took deposits from buyers, sometimes as much as €100,000, promising new homes in Mallorca that never existed. The money funded luxury cars and jewelry, while some went on travel. Almost €270,000 was lost at the Casino de Mallorca. Lujocasa had no land or permits for the promised developments, and lacked the financing to build them, making this the largest real estate fraud ever recorded in the Balearics.
The arrest warrant for García Roldán was issued in December 2025 after he failed to appear to receive notification of his sentence and begin serving his prison term.
Police told EL PAÍS they had suspected the Calella apartment for some time. But García Roldán never left the building, making surveillance difficult. Relatives ran his errands while he stayed hidden, determined not to repeat the mistakes that led to his earlier arrest in Colombia in 2019. His routines, along with a tip from his girlfriend, gave him away then. Spanish and Colombian police coordinated to detain him.
This time, police received a tip on Thursday morning. The Guardia Civil got a judge’s approval and raided the apartment at dawn. They found García Roldán wedged under the kitchen sink. He was taken straight to the Arenys de Mar barracks and was expected to appear before a judge within hours. Última Hora reported that the transfer was a routine step before his court hearing.
The court found that Lujocasa never had the means or money to build homes. The operation was designed to funnel millions to its organizers. Along with García Roldán, other agents and an architect were ordered to pay more than €2 million in damages to over a hundred victims. El Caso reports that about 240 families were affected, making the Lujocasa case unprecedented in the region.
Spanish police have had to track down other fraudsters who use family networks and legal loopholes to stay hidden. In the case of José Trinidad Márquez, repeat offenders have delayed justice for years, making life harder for law enforcement and victims.
The scale and audacity of the Mallorca scam have shaken Spain’s real estate sector. More than 240 families were affected, and millions were lost, leaving buyers vulnerable when oversight fails. García Roldán’s months in hiding, aided by relatives, point to gaps in Spain’s enforcement system. Unless consequences for these crimes are swift and certain, fraudsters will keep pushing the limits, and ordinary people will keep paying the price.
