How €38,000 Disappeared During a Property Purchase

In November 2024, after months of hesitation, uncertainty, and endless discussions, Alexandra and I finally made one of the biggest decisions of our lives: we left everything behind and moved to Gran Canaria. At that point, we had only been together for about a year. Still, we shared the same dream. We wanted a quieter life, more nature, warm weather, and something that had become deeply important to both of us: animals, especially cats. We always felt drawn toward caring for abandoned animals, giving them safety, affection, and a home.

Our first home on the island was in the mountains of Santa Lucía. Life there was peaceful, isolated, and beautiful. For six months, we worked every single day, saved every euro we could, and slowly built a life together from nothing. Day after day, week after week, we talked about one thing constantly: having our own home one day. Not luxury. Not status. Just something safe. Something nobody could take away from us if life ever became difficult. A place where we, and the small family we were building, could finally feel secure.

Eventually, the isolation of Santa Lucía pushed us toward Maspalomas. We needed more social life, more connection, more people around us. The move changed everything. We met wonderful people, built friendships, and our little family continued to grow. We rescued more cats from the streets of Santa Lucía and Maspalomas, bringing them into our home one after another. While many people spend their evenings relaxing at restaurants or beaches, our lives became defined by seven-day work weeks, often lasting between ten and sixteen hours a day. Everything revolved around one idea: somehow making the impossible possible.

Then, around July 2025, only a few months after moving to Maspalomas, friends told us about what seemed to be a rare opportunity. A small apartment in the city was available for €255,000. For us, that number felt absurdly high. Completely unrealistic. Yet we sat together and asked ourselves a simple question: what if we just tried? What if we worked nonstop, sacrificed everything for a while, and simply saw how close we could get?

We signed a reservation agreement valid until April 30, 2026, and transferred €25,500 as part of the arrangement. Even then, something felt unusual. Why was the money being transferred directly to the real estate agent’s company instead of a notary? Why were certain parts of the process handled differently from what we expected? But Luis Miguel Dominguez Vega had been recommended through trusted connections. He owned a real estate office on a busy street in Maspalomas. Everything appeared legitimate on the surface. So we ignored our concerns and focused entirely on one thing: finding the remaining money.

For months, we pushed ourselves beyond exhaustion. We worked constantly, spoke with banks, contacted relatives, and even convinced our best friend to financially support the project. The pressure affected every part of our lives. There were relationship crises, sleepless nights, anxiety, and enormous personal sacrifice. Still, by January 2026, we had finally managed to gather the necessary funds.

That was the moment everything changed.

When we informed Miguel that we were ready to move forward, the explanations suddenly began. The owners were allegedly no longer on the island but in Belgium. We needed to wait until the end of February. At first, we remained calm because the reservation agreement was still valid until April 30.

But February passed without progress.

When we asked for updates, we were told: “next week.” Then the owner was supposedly sick. Then another two weeks passed. Then another week. By April, panic slowly replaced optimism. Miguel became increasingly difficult to reach. Messages remained unanswered. Calls went nowhere.

We started visiting his office almost daily. Yet he was never there.

Instead, there was another man who partially rented the office space and worked with scooter and car rentals. Disturbingly, he claimed not to really know Miguel at all.

By that point, our best friend insisted that we finally contact a lawyer. In mid-March, we met with attorney Ricardo Gesche. It did not take him long to recognize that multiple parts of the situation made little sense. The contract structure was unusual. Fundamental elements were missing, including proof of legal authorization to represent the owners. One terrifying question emerged more and more clearly: did Miguel even have the authority to act on behalf of the property owners in the first place?

Slowly, piece by piece, the truth emerged.

During this period, our lawyer began making his own inquiries into Luis Miguel Dominguez Vega. It did not take long before disturbing information started to surface. According to what he was told, Miguel already had a negative reputation among various people on the island and had allegedly been involved in similar situations before, reportedly targeting vulnerable individuals, including elderly people who often avoid pursuing lengthy and stressful legal proceedings. We were also informed that there were already ongoing legal disputes connected to him.

Our lawyer warned us repeatedly that every interaction we had experienced seemed highly calculated. According to his assessment, Miguel appeared to understand legal boundaries extremely well and allegedly manipulated situations in ways designed to avoid direct legal consequences and personal accountability. The more we reviewed the events, the more this pattern appeared consistent with our own experience.

After one major confrontation, Miguel suddenly claimed that he was willing to return the money the following day. However, there was one condition: we first had to sign a cancellation agreement. At first glance, this may have sounded like progress. Yet our lawyer immediately warned us not to sign anything.

According to his legal assessment, the situation at that point could constitute a criminal fraud case under Spanish law in which Miguel himself could face personal liability and serious criminal consequences. Signing additional documents, however, could fundamentally change the legal nature of the case and shift it into a civil dispute instead. Our lawyer explained that such a step could potentially help Miguel avoid personal criminal liability and significantly reduce the legal consequences he might otherwise face.

That warning changed everything for us. It was the moment we fully realized that this was no longer simply a failed property transaction or a misunderstanding. From that point onward, every conversation, every delay, every excuse, and every sudden promise appeared in a completely different light.

At the beginning of May, we discovered that the property owner had been on the island the entire time. The agreement had reportedly already been terminated in March. The contractual penalty payment had already been paid. The property itself had meanwhile been resold for a higher price.

Throughout all of this, Luis Miguel Dominguez Vega continued denying that any of it was true, even after confrontation.

By then, the reality had become impossible to ignore. The money we had spent months and years saving for our future, the money connected to our dream of safety and stability, had disappeared into a maze of contradictions, excuses, and silence.

This website exists because what happened to us should not happen to anyone else. What hurts the most is not only the financial loss itself. It is the destruction of trust. For months, we believed we were building a future through hard work, sacrifice, and honesty. We postponed comfort, exhausted ourselves physically and emotionally, and structured our entire lives around the hope of finally having a secure place to call home. Watching that dream collapse through deception and manipulation is something difficult to describe unless one has lived through it personally.

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Amin Rafiki & Alexandra Mavroeidi Avenida Touroperator Intamu 2 Maspalomas, 35100. Gran Canaria