INVESTMENT WARNING
Are you thinking of purchasing a property in Morocco? If so, this website is for you as you will learn all about the serious risks involved and not to trust any bank guarantees or claims that the development is part of the Kings Vision.
Paradise Golf Beach Resort & Atlantic Golf View Resort, Asilah, Tangier
This website has been set up following a lengthy battle to secure our property investments in Morocco and seek justice. We wanted to warn future investors about the problems we have experienced during the past 12 years and notify potential investors to Morocco that we are still fighting to get our money back.
Background information:
In 2006 land from the Moroccan Government was given to the development company, Atlantic Beach Paradise Resort SARL, to build an 18-hole Steve Ritson design golf course, swimming pools and approximately 400 attractive apartments and villas (a £45 million project). The site is situated between Asilah (a pretty Moorish town) and Tangier with views down to the beach. The development was promoted in numerous marketing brochures/websites as part of ‘Vision 2010’ - King Mohammed VI’s Project - which planned to bring thousands of new tourists into Morocco. Off-plan properties were bought by up to 800 investors from several countries.
Current Situation
Under contractual terms, deposits should have been paid back to investors in 2010. Financial statements of company funds were available then, and no further construction work was undertaken, but funds are now untraceable.
Following a demonstration in January 2016 by investors outside the Moroccan Embassy in London, the developer was arrested. On May 31st, 2017 Larbi Tadlaoui was released from prison, but has not to date paid any investors back the money owed even the investors who were awarded compensation after successfully winning the criminal prosecution. It is believed the developer is living in Spain and continues to make false statements and promises to investors via his company representatives Mr Guang Huang and Mr Juan Carlos Ollero. To our knowledge, no international arrest warrant has been served by the Moroccan justice department.
We have held 11 demonstrations to date and will
continue until our deposits are returned.
Sadly, many investors have since postponed
retirement and some have unfortunately passed
away without the opportunity to experience their second home in Morocco.
The investors are furious that Morocco’s plans for more developments, as part of its Vision 2020, are being promoted before the Vision 2010 projects are completed.
This development was also promoted by Moroccan Ministers publically at the SMAP in Paris in 2008. It was built on state owned land governed by an investment convention signed by Moroccan Government officials.
Investors remitted upfront deposits (40%) for apartments and villas in two resort complexes. These were known as Paradise Golf and Beach Resort (PGBR) and Atlantic Golf View Resort (AGV). Construction on PBGR and landscaping the golf course began in 2007 and investors were assured that all construction licenses and funds for development were in place. Completion of the project was due in 2010.
Investor deposits were taken supposedly secured by a Bank Guarantee from Banque Centrale Populaire. Investors paid into Client segregated accounts at the developer’s other companies, Law & Taxes and Prestige Properties Overseas. The bank guarantee either did not exist or it was withdrawn illegally without investor consent by the developer or the bank. We were also informed that instead of the usual lending agreement of 30:70 (30% loan to the developer initially with the remainder to be paid at a later date) the bank lent in the ratio of 70:30 to a developer with little track record of a development on this scale.
WORK STOPPED IN 2009! The Developer, Larbi Tadlaoui, blamed the water company Amendis for delays, which Amendis has always denied. Amendis claimed payments were not made making it impossible for the development to progress.
Although deposits were taken for both projects, building never commenced on the Atlantic Golf View project!
By 2010 construction was still seriously delayed however the investors had no idea about the extent of the delays and were told their apartments were almost ready! Deposits for furniture packs were taken by the developer’s Spanish property company, Prestige Properties Overseas. This money was never returned to investors and no furniture packs were ever purchased.