They accuse the Otero Group of carrying out an important operation just days before suspending payments

Those affected by the bankruptcy of the Otero Group, the luxury housing developer that collapsed a year ago, are trying to get the Commercial Court number 2 of Malaga to expand the collection of information in other official sources due to the risk of loss accounting data. A request they made after learning that the company bought land a few days before suspending payments and for which they demand their notarial records to know if there are other operations that support criminal charges..

As reported by this newspaper, the accounting years of 2022 and 2023 were at risk because they were “deposited in the cloud of the IT service provider” and obtaining a backup copy could “only” be carried out by this specialized company..

The lawyers of the developer, which presented itself as a “leader in the construction of luxury homes on the Costa del Sol”, explained in a letter that the computer company had specified that this task “has an associated cost” and that is why “they present budget for the acceptance of the bankruptcy administration”.

The technicians also warned that “the difficulty in obtaining the aforementioned backup derives from the fact that the virtual servers where the information is located may end up being inaccessible if no maintenance task is carried out.”.

Faced with this possibility, the lawyer representing one of the companies that suffer non-payments from the Otero Group – many of them family SMEs – presented a document on December 20, to which El Confidencial has had access, in which he expressed his fear that the “controversy” surrounding the company's accounts could “end in delay and, therefore, in loss of information”.

A reason why he considered that “we are in need” to collect all possible data and why he requested that a letter be sent to the Single Computerized Notarial Index so that this organization details the deeds and other notarial acts in which they have participated. the sole administrator, Rubén Otero, and two representatives of the promoter.

The objective, explained in the document, is “to obtain the timely certainty of the goods, assets and credits in its favor owned by the bankrupt and/or that have left its assets in the last four years.”. Take “the big photograph” of the conduct of its administrators “to clarify criminal responsibilities in the event that classifiable conduct has occurred”.

This request, according to the lawyers of those affected, takes on much more importance after the creditors have learned “of the existence of a credit in favor of the bankrupt for the purchase and sale of a plot of land on January 24, 2023”, an operation “carried out only a week before the general suspension of payments and the stoppage of their works”.

The judicial authority, at first, has refused to investigate the Single Computerized Notarial Index considering that the party claiming it “is not a legitimate party to propose evidence”, but an appeal for reconsideration has been presented in which it is reported that this decision causes “helplessness”.

The lawyer who has appealed relies on the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court (TS) to defend that creditors “are recognized as having the possibility of intervening as adjuvants” when requesting a certain procedure..

The court handling the case must evaluate the arguments presented and agree on whether the request proceeds or whether they remain in their initial ruling..

Grupo Otero presented itself as one of the leading firms in the promotion and construction of luxury properties on the Costa del Sol: “More than 130 million euros in construction portfolio”, “190 units” of exclusive houses for “250 million” , “500 projects delivered” and the “objective” of building more properties for “affordable rentals”, specified on its website and status reports..

A developer capable of seducing with its designs the British, Germans and Nordics eager to have a luxury villa on the Costa del Sol, and spending up to seven million euros, but with enough versatility to opt for the construction of Social Housing Officer (VPO). And that he owes large sums to suppliers of supplies and services who are now trying to recover their money.