8 - 14 February 2018
COSTA DEL SOL
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Counterclaim
Bank victims fight back
‘TOXIC PRODUCT’: Hundreds of expatriate families were affected.
by Matt Ford More than 160 expatriate families hope to reclaim their lives. It comes as a class action lawsuit against an Icelandic bank gets underway in Marbella. Many of those affected are British pensioners who now owe thousands of Euros on an equity release scheme sold via unscrupulous financial advisers.
Among them are Carolyn and Henry Bowen, both in their late 60s. They moved to Benamargosa, near Malaga, to enjoy their retirement but Carolyn was diagnosed with breast cancer, with treatment priced at €6,000. So they visited the offices of Landsbanki in Marbella, where an adviser told them they would have to apply for a loan of at least €20,000. Their lawyer said in a statement they were sold a “toxic financial product,” by the bank’s subsidiary in Luxembourg, allowing them to borrow 100 per
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Prison break Photo credit Twitter
ISSUE NO. 1701
cent of the value of their home, taking one chunk as a loan and investing the remainder in a fund. But when the institution collapsed in 2008 they lost everything and were saddled with debts totalling almost €300,000. Having lost their initial case in the Supreme Court, the Bowens were last November informed that the bank intends to repossess their home, while their pensions have been embargoed. “They only eat thanks to [charity] Caritas,” their lawyer added.
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A MANHUNT has been launched after a gangster was broken out of a hospital. It comes after 20 hooded men stormed the Centro Hospitalario in La Linea de la Concepcion, overpowering two policemen who were on guard before making off with the prisoner. He had been held earlier in the day after fleeing on a motorcycle when approached by police, before crashing.
Rocks off GIBRALTAR will not be bullied into joint sovereignty during the Brexit process, the Rock’s deputy chief minister has said. Speaking in Belgian capital Brussels, Josep Garcia said: “What we don’t want to be in a position of, is where Spain gives us a price of joint sovereignty for maintaining a relationship with the EU.”