www.gibraltarolivepress.com
September 27th - October 10th 2017
The Rock’s original community newspaper
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Vol. 3 Issue 54 www.gibraltarolivepress.com September 27th - October 10th 2017
www.hungrymonkey.gi
Back from the dead
Border boost SPANISH workers have been handed reassurances amid fears over Brexit’s impact on the frontier. It comes as Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis sought to calm concerns during a visit to La Linea. “I hope that there won’t be a hard Brexit, but we want to maintain the best relations with the UK and we don’t want to inconvenience or create a prejudicial situation for the citizens of this area,” he said. There had been fears that following the UK’s exit from the EU, Spain would shut its frontier with Gibraltar. This would cause economic ruin for La Linea, with an estimated 10,000 of its citizens relying on employment across the border for their livelihoods. The town is already among Spain’s poorest, with a high unemployment rate.
Truck bomb exercise A TRUCK bomb causing multiple casualties was the subject of a dummy run for the emergency services on the Rock. Titled Exercise Assure, the emergency rehearsal involved officials from the Government, the Royal Gibraltar Police, the Ministry of Defence, the Gibraltar Port Authority, the Air Terminal, the Borders and Coastguard Agency and HM Customs. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, the Police chief Eddie Yome and the Commander of the British Forces, Commodore Mike Walliker were all involved. The exercise at No.6 involved a scenario where after the truck blew up, there was an ensuing manhunt in the Upper Town.
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IT has taken months of complaints and news stories. But Gibraltar’s cemetery is finally being brought back to life. An eagle-eyed reader took a shot of workmen cleaning up the overgrown site. In total, the team of work-
men removed ‘at least 30’ big sacks of garden waste from the burial ground. It comes two months after the Gibraltar Olive Press launched the ‘Give Them Respect’ campaign following a slew of complaints from residents and readers.
Escape to the Rock EXCLUSIVE By Joe Duggan
A SELF-confessed scammer has fled to Gibraltar from Spain with a pregnant woman’s rental deposit. Londoner Abdelkarim [Karim] Moumene, 27, allegedly scarpered with €2,300 in cash after advertising a flat he didn’t own on a rental portal. The wheeler dealer left Irish expat Hannah Nolan, 26, and her partner €800 out of pocket over the property in Barcelona. Another young couple also lost €900 after Moumene allegedly pocketed their rental deposit, via an advert he placed on Ide-
Londoner moves to Gibraltar after allegedly conning expats out of rental deposits in Spain alista.com. Five-month pregnant Nolan, a teacher who lives in Barcelona, only realised she and her partner had been conned when an estate agent demanded they leave. She told the Olive Press how the agent ended up trying to break down the door, accusing them of squatting and telling them to move out immediately. “Karim seemed so charming but then he conned us,” she
said, “We wanted to find a place together for the remainder of my pregnancy before I returned to my native Ireland to have the baby. “We're both young, so don't have have a lot of spare income and it is almost impossible to find a room in Barcelona for a couple. It has been very stressful.” She has now reported the theft to Barcelona police and continues to try and pressurise
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LAYING LOW: Karim Moumene
Moumene to return the money, including contacting his family and launching a social media campaign against him. She has now finally tracked him down to Gibraltar through his friends, and discovered he has been drinking in wellknown Main Street pub the Horseshoe over recent weeks. One member of staff told the Olive Press last that he had indeed been drinking there recently. The barmaid said: “He didn’t really talk much about himself. Just sat for a few pints and kept himself to himself.” This week, in an astonishing confession, Moumene wrote to Nolan asking for forgiveness. It came after she wrote to his mother ANGRY: Nolan in England
insisting she put pressure on her son. In the email he wrote that he was sorry he conned her and that she had ‘every right to be livid’ with him. He admitted it was a ‘scam’. It is not known how many other people he has ripped off. The Olive Press has discovered that the conman worked for four years at Barcelona’s Cheers Irish bar where, strangely, he used the name ‘John’, manager Sam Olsson revealed. Police in Barcelona refused to give more details on the case, while police in Gibraltar confirmed they would be handing our dossier over to the intelligence department. His mother did not respond to calls in London and he did not reply to emails. Have you been the victim of a rental scam like this in Spain? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es
What’s up doc?
We meet Gibraltar’s deputy leader Dr. Joseph Garcia
See Page 5