Timeshare Wars??

[Trot]

The british press is reporting the murder of 2 ex pats who lived near Playa De Las Americas.
They are saying it could be as a result of a 'turf war' between timeshare companies. Does anyone know anything about this?

I know some timeshare companies employ unsavoury characters but, if true, this seems a bit extreme.

[Stephen]

the couple were the owners of Global World Travel in PDLA , by all accounts they were the most respected Time**** workers going , they used to work for John Palmer and it looks like someone wasted them to get the business, have a look at http://www.crimeshare.net/57.html which more or less says how respected they were , by all accounts the wife was murdered in front of her husband and then he had his throat cut


it doesnt suprise me at all this has happened as the timeshare industry over there is very seedy having worked in it for a while i am just glad i saw sense and got out , this is the only one taht has come to light because it was a couple and high profile in the industry BUT it happens a lot over there and isnt reported the last one i heard about was a scotish saleman who had his throat cut by supposed Russian Mafia and it seems like this is the same , as the russians are trying to muscle there way in

[Stephen]

15 January 2006
TIMESHARE PAIR DIE IN TURF WAR HIT
'GOLDFINGER' PALS KILLED
By Justin Penrose Crime Correspondent

A BRITISH millionaire and his wife were brutally murdered by professional hitmen in a suspected timeshare turf war on Tenerife.

Florence Robinson, 55, was found in a pool of blood in her two-seater Mercedes, just yards from her home. She had been bludgeoned to death.

Her 58-year-old husband, Billy, was discovered slumped on the back seat of his Porsche Cayenne 4x4 on industrial estate a mile away.

His throat been slit and he was still wearing his £100,000 gold watch.

The Robinsons - who ran a time-share business above a hotel in the resort of Playa de las Americas - both used to work for John "Goldfinger" Palmer, jailed for eight years in May 2001 for a £33million holiday home scam on the island. They were thought to have been in regular contact with the crook since his early release from jail last summer.

Mr Robinson is also understood to have once been a member of the Essex Boys gang. Its leaders Pat Tate, Tony Tucker, and Craig Rolfe were found shot dead in a Range Rover in December 1995. Detectives believe the Robinsons may have tried to flee after returning home to their villa to find their killers waiting for them.




A source said: "The level of violence used was horrific. This may well turn out to be the work of a gang of professional assassins."

Yesterday security was tightened up at the island's ports and airports but police believe the assassins may have already fled after Thursday's hit.

One theory being investigated by police is the couple were killed by rivals trying to muscle in on the island's lucrative timeshare industry.

Former associates of Palmer, 55, who was acquitted over the £26million Brinks-Mat robbery despite the discovery of gold from the heist in his back garden, still control much of the holiday home business on Tenerife. But in recent years Eastern European mafias have tried to muscle in on the lucrative trade.

The Robinsons' son Liam lives on Tenerife. Their daughter Billie, who is in her 30s, lives in London.

j.penrose@sundaymirror.co.uk

[Stephen]

Timeshare murders shock Playa de Las Américas
Timeshare circles in south Tenerife are still coming to terms with the brutal murders of Billy and Flo Robinson, the owners of Global World Travel in Playa de Las Américas.



The couple, both of whom were in their middle-50s, were killed before the week-end in what police described as 'particularly horrific' cicrumstances. It is thought that their cars were forced off the road near their home in San Miguel and they were then killed. Mr Robinson's body was found on the back seat of a Porsche several hours after that of his wife was discovered lying in a pool of blood near her Mercedes sports car. The authorities are working on the theory that the murders are related to a turf war in the timeshare industry and believe that the killers had already fled the island before Mr Robinson's body was found.


http://www.newscanarias.net/index.php?artikel=10043&kategorie=1000126&content=article_ic&language=en_EN

[Stephen]

Further To This Someone Else Who Worked In The Same Industry And Had Been For years On Tenerife Was Found Dead Under Suspicious Circumstances A Couple Of Days Ago

Seems Like Whoever It Is Is Taking The Known People Out , I Can Honestly Say There Will More Than Likely Be A Lot More Of These Murders/suspicious Deaths Over There Andif I Was Over There And Working For Timeshare Etc , Think Tenerife Reina Sofia Airport Would Be My First Point Of Call And The Uk My Second

[seaward]

Latest update on the double murder
Less than two weeks into the new year the police in south Tenerife found themselves dealing with the island’s first two murders of 2006. Significantly, they involved two foreigners, had a timeshare element and were of a particularly vicious nature.



It is looking increasingly likely that Billy and Flo Robinson, a well-heeled British couple in their 50s, involved in the no-holds-barred world of timeshare but latterly trying to move away from the property sector and into tourism, were the victims of professional hit men in a turf war waged by organised crime gangs in the south.
First appearances can be deceptive and the first local police knew about the brutal double killing was when they were called to a crime scene in San Miguel de Abona at around midnight on January 13.
The body of Florence Robinson, 54, had been found on the road just 300 metres or so from the couple’s home in the exclusive Oroteanda Alta urbanisation. She was lying in a pool of blood beside her badly dented £90,000 Mercedes and had evidently been felled by several blows to her head by a blunt object, possibly a rock. There was evidence of a struggle.
For the police, given the absence of her husband, the immediate hypothesis was that they were faced with another domestic violence tragedy. That theory was dashed a few hours later, however, when dawn revealed another crime scene just a kilometre down the road on the Las Chafiras industrial estate.
The body of Billy Robinson was discovered on the back seat of his Porsche Cayenne. He had been subjected to prolonged torture by stabbing before having his throat slit.
Piecing together the evidence, the police now believe the sequence of events may have gone something like this: the killers intercepted Mr Robinson, perhaps after a car chase, and forced him to call out his wife. She was possibly murdered in front of him. He may then have been driven to Las Chafiras where he was also eventually killed.
But another theory gaining currency is that the Robinsons may have tried to flee separately, in their own cars, after being ambushed outside their house.
Traces of paint found on the battered cars of both victims suggest a red vehicle was used in the attack, probably a 4x4 or similarly large and powerful car.
The couple, who had lived in Tenerife for some fifteen years, ran a timeshare company, Global World Travel SL, which operated from an office in the Royal Garden complex in Playa de las Américas, the property of John “Goldfinger” Palmer for whom the Robinsons once worked.
Palmer, who is said to have been a friend, was jailed in 2001. He served only four years of an eight year sentence for a notorious timeshare fraud. Police are said to be seeking his assistance in the hunt for the Robinsons’ murderers.
It has been revealed that two years ago Billy Robinson was on the receiving end of an attack by British gangsters from the south Tenerife underworld. The “roughing up” was enough to warrant a prolonged hospital stay but he failed to denounce the incident to police so it was never followed up.
Sources close to the investigation confirmed that the police are pursuing a number of lines of inquiry to unmask the identity of the murderers. It is thought that one of them involves a theory that the couple were the victims of east European mobsters, in the same line of timeshare business as the Robinsons. Others believe the crime could be the work of north African hit men.
One thing they are agreed on, however, is the practical impossibility of the killers having remained on the island for any length of time after the attack.
And if the killers were quick off the mark when it came to putting distance between themselves and the island, so were the politicians in criticising the government delegate José Segura, a man who is famously in a state of denial over allegations of organised crime in Tenerife.
For the Partido Popular party the Robinsons’ death is the last straw. They are demanding to know whether Segura is still in doubt over the existence of mafia-type gangs here.
“There have been too many serious incidents in Tenerife in recent months which point to the existence of organised crime,” said a PP spokesman.
“Only a few months ago the Spanish attorney-general, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, was here and confirmed during his visit that the presence of Albano-Kosovan gangs operating in the island is under investigation. Shortly after,” he continued, alluding to the recent capture of Croation General Ante Gotovina in Playa de las Américas, “we found the island had become a refuge for war criminals.
“It is about time, after these first two murders of 2006, that the government delegate admitted that the situation in the island requires some serious and transparent action instead of his usual spouting about how much crime has dropped in Tenerife or the large numbers of police he has procured for the archipelago.”
In the meantime, however, while politicians argue their case, neighbours of the Robinsons were placing flowers on the spot where Florence died and the police are continuing with their inquiries, both here and abroad.

[Ghoulie]

be time to get urself some kind of self defence weapon if u woz living in those parts 7 scenarios - the louder the better

[Stephen]

i would forget the self defence weapon , best thing is get on a plane and get away

info , one of the murdered couple bosses has done a runner from the island , not suprised think he has been warned he would be next , and the rumours about the one dead in teh uk are exactly that rumours no proof , but there again there are so many in the hills and the sea round that place they may never find out

[Stephen]

EXCLUSIVE: TENERIFE: THE NEW COSTA DEL CRIME
British expats murdered, drugs and a timeshare turf war... welcome to sunny
By Graeme Brough And Kiki King

AWAY from the smart hotels, pristine villas and sparkling beaches, lurks another Tenerife, a dark and violent place of dirty deals and bloody murder.

While millions of British holidaymakers top up their tans, a handful of international gangsters and London thugs have turned this holiday mecca into the dodgy timeshare capital of the world.

This week an even darker shadow was cast over the island's once sunny reputation by the shocking murders of Billy and Flo Robinson.

The couple, middle-aged, always sun-tanned, always immaculate and very, very wealthy had made their fortune in the timeshare industry.

Florence, 55, was discovered bludgeoned to death in her two-seater Mercedes, yards from her home. Her 58-year-old husband was found less than a mile away, slumped on the back seat of his new Porsche Cayenne. His throat had been cut and he had been shot in the head.

The murders bore all the marks of a professional assassination, and present a telling glimpse into a sinister underworld of drugs and gang warfare.

Just days before, Billy and Flo had waved goodbye to their closest friends, the parents of former EastEnders actress Michelle Collins.

Mary and Sid, Michelle's mum and stepdad, had left their home in London to spend Christmas at the couple's villa in the remote area of Oroteanda Alta, near the prestigious Golf del Sur resort.

Still reeling from shock, Michelle struggled to put her family's grief into words.

"It's something that's very difficult," she told the Daily Mirror. "It's very hard, it's difficult, but we're supporting each other and we're there for each other through this. But it's horrible."

Local police believe the double murder is a brutal escalation of the tangled web of corruption, money laundering, extortion and even gun-running that has invaded their island.

The timeshare trade, which sees hordes of luckless British tourists accosted by touts and often persuaded to part with money they can ill-afford, has become a multi-million pound business - and a magnet for the criminal underworld.

OVER recent years, Russian hoods and eastern European gangs have muscled in on the lucrative industry.

Now the island's tranquility is often shattered by shootings involving Albanian, Kosovar and Romanian thugs.

And there is a darker, more dreadful side beginning to emerge. Profits from timeshare scams are believed to have funded Middle Eastern terror groups.

Police say a group of 18 people arrested in 2001 may be linked to the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon and the Syrian-backed Amal movement, although both groups denied any link.

The gang was believed to be raising money by forging credit cards and organising fraudulent time-share deals, mostly with Britons and Germans.

And where there are gangs, there are the drug cartels - cocaine is rife and the formerly idyllic island has earned the unwelcome nickname "the white island" among partygoers.

Police recently arrested a 24-year-old man, a drug mule who was carrying almost a kilo of cocaine in his stomach. Prostitution is openly offered through main street clubs, lap dancing bars are common, and pimping is profitable.

But the biggest money is still in selling timeshare holiday homes.

Two figures have attracted considerable interest in the wake of the Robinson murders. One is Billy's former business associate John Palmer, the notorious timeshare conman recently released from an eight-year jail sentence.

The other is a Lebanese man called Mohammed Jamil Derbah, Palmer's former "head of security".

The two men met in Liberia and Sierra Leone in 1988 while involved in the diamond trade, and Palmer encouraged Derbah to move to Tenerife.

And over an eight-year period, Palmer conned thousands of British holidaymakers into parting with their cash. Using a complex web of companies, he targeted existing timeshare owners and persuaded them to sell and buy again.

But while customers were told that Palmer's company would sell their old timeshare and make them a vast profit, it did nothing. Many of his victims lost their life savings.

Derbah, meanwhile, is said to have launched his own money-laundering activities and he and Palmer became locked in a bloody turf war.

The spate of violence between the rival gangs sparked outrage among the authorities in the Canary Islands, and back in England Palmer, 55, was finally jailed for his multi-million pound timeshare scams. And while Palmer cooled his heels in Belmarsh jail, Billy Robinson emerge from his shadows.

For most of his career, Billy had worked alongside Palmer but now Billy was building his own holiday club business, World Global Travel SL, while Flo continued to work in administration for Palmer.

The Robinsons' £1million villa in Los Cristianos is a monument to their success. Dotted with Cuban palms, the gardens include a pool and a landscaped lagoon filled with Koi carp. Driving her Mercedes sports car to her regular hair appointment, blonde, perma-tanned Flo was instantly recognisable. Billy was rarely seen without Sid and Nancy, the couple's beloved Jack Russells.

Since their deaths, many friends have paid tribute to their warmth and generosity. Flo was "the kindest and most beautiful woman a person could know", one mourner said at her funeral last Thursday.

BUT the Robinsons had known their cut of the timeshare industry was under threat, and their business rivals were dangerous men. Their luxurious villa was ringed by steel fences.

On the night their charmed lifestyle came to a bloody end, Billy and Flo met friends at a restaurant in Playa de Las Americas. Typically, Billy was in good form.

"We laughed over a new mobile phone which neither of us could make work," recalled friend Chris Collins, who dined with them. Speculation is rife over whether Billy and Flo were victims of the timeshare turf war, but there seems little doubt that the couple's business dealings attracted enemies. Their son Liam is said to have received a series of death threats.

Palmer's release from jail last August, after serving half his sentence, has raised tension on the island. Despite having his passport confiscated on release from Belmarsh jail, the former Somerset businessman was among mourners at the funeral.

So was Mohammed Derbah's brother, Sam.

A spokesperson for the Timeshare Consumer Association explained: "Billy and World Global Travel were marketing a holiday club system called Timelinx which was in competition with Palmer's timeshare businesses. But I don't think he'd take the competition this seriously."

Just how seriously he took the competition is something Spanish police will be anxious to uncover.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_objectid=16610121&method=full&siteid=94762-name_page.html

[Stephen]

Just a update on the murders http://www.thetenerifesun.com/Issue-211/index.htm