Tenerife Man Sentenced to 18 Months for Investment Fraud Scheme

The Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has sentenced a man to 18 months in prison for fraud. The case serves as a warning about how easily private investors can be misled by scammers who pose as financial experts and promise unrealistic returns.

The court ordered the man to pay a total of 21,000 euros in compensation to three victims living in La Cuesta, La Laguna. The individual payouts are 15,000, 4,000, and 2,000 euros. Investigators found that between late 2018 and early 2019, the defendant used a fake identity as a computer engineer and created a non-existent company to trick his victims.

The scam involved selling web domains for a total of 25,000 euros, even though the domains actually cost the fraudster less than six euros each. The contracts promised high profits that never materialized. According to lawyer José Corsino García Busto, who represented the victims, the money was quickly spent on the defendant's personal expenses, leaving his accounts empty.

Although the defendant repaid 10,500 euros, the court ruled this was not enough to qualify for a "reparation of damage" sentence reduction. However, the judge did grant a reduction due to "undue delay," noting that the case had been moving through the courts since April 2019 for reasons outside the defendant's control.

The final sentence was lighter than the two-year, four-month term requested by prosecutors and the three-year term sought by the victims' lawyer. This case highlights how scammers often use local connections and personal trust to commit fraud, and serves as a reminder of the importance of being cautious when investing in digital assets, which often lack regulation.