FUNDS PROVIDED by money launderers may be behind the purchase of many luxury properties in the Algarve, according to the Ordem dos Notários, the national notary association.
Polícia Judiciária, the Portuguese criminal police, are already looking at some cases after the Public Ministery concluded there was enough evidence to start a criminal investigation.
Detailed information could not be confirmed to The Resident because the procedures already underway are covered by the Secrecy of Justice protective shield.
However, it is understood that there are similarities to some cases in Spain which are already under investigation by the Spanish police. It is thought that some of the property buyers’ names have cropped up in both countries.
Portuguese Ordem dos Notários reported a total of 59 suspicious cases in Portugal, most of them in the Algarve region.
According to the organisation, the luxury properties were bought in the country during the past two years, most with cash payments and, in some cases, through off-shore companies without national and legal representation or address.
Money laundering
It was said that these money laundering schemes increased in the Algarve after Spain changed regulations on property registration, as a consequence of the organised schemes uncovered there.
Under a new Spanish law, published in November, all property buyers have to show several documents before a property deal is concluded.
The list includes payment receipts, identification of the cheque owner and bank, as well as the evidence of the different moments of the payment. These procedures are now being studied by a special committee, with a view to them being adopted in Portugal.
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