14th Oct 2016: After yet more promises from Sambala they have again cheated, lied and defrauded investors out of yet more money by taking fees in the promise they would maintain the resort whilst their new funding was being finalised. That money has now gone up in smoke. They introduced supposed funder, Pacific Challenge, to investors in August but Pacific Challenge (who have declined to comment) turned out not to be a funder at all but merely an agent promising to find a funder for investors (and for a hefty up front fee of 7.5% of further stage payments). However, much damning information, previously withheld by Grepne and McGlynn, has been uncovered and published here
Investor group SIIG have now terminated all discussions with Sambala and their supposed agent and (we hope) will pass all information to the relevant authorities. This latest development was unfortunately predictable. No director has put their name to any piece of paper issued by Sambala for years. Grepne and McGlynn have done nothing but lie and cheat for 10 years and they have become extremely adept at it. Meanwhile they continue to live a life of carefree luxury on the Med on millions of Euros from investors that should have been spent building investors' properties.
If you know the exact whereabouts of Jonathan Grepne, Dominic McGlynn or (now also) Marcus Bamberg, please email me or SIIG. Someday they will brought to book for their actions even if their extreme arrogance lets them believe otherwise. Yet another example of the Cape Verde govt letting crooks operate freely in their country.
4th June 2016: Latest from Sambala is - after many more months with Jonathan Grepne and Dominic Mcglynn (pictured) they have resurfaced and told investors that Grepne has sold the land surrounding the resort to some Far East buyers and that he is walking away with the money. He also warned investors that if they do not support the new buyers then they will not take over finishing the failed resort. He wants investors to waiver all rights to sueing him and McGlynn for all past misconduct and failings.
Grepne left, McGlynn right, (unrelated party center)
But - hang on. I am reliably informed that the core assets of the resort are still frozen by the courts pending mass legal action by some investors. So how can Grepne sell those assets on? There is too much smoke and too many mirrors, as usual with this lot.
Aug 2014: Sambala properties destroyed?
I have been sent photos of several Sambala properties that their owners
had taken last month. Owners have been banned from visiting their own
properties for some time. Now they know why. There are reports of
properties being looted but also now suffering from serious damp
problems that some owners first noticed 4 years ago. The problem is now
causing serious deterioration to the point where properties are beyond
salvaging. See the pics labelled prop1 to prop7 here
My contact has suggested that the properties were built with absolutely no weep vents installed, which are particularly important in humid climates and in with the monolitic cladding system that Samblala have employed. See following links...
http://www.weepa.com.au/knowledge-centre/leaky-building-syndrome/
http://www.weepa.com.au/knowledge-centre/importance-of-weep-holes/
This, on top of leaky roofs and rising damp from poorly built foundations potentially means that floors, platerboards, external cladding and all woodwork, together with all the iron work that has been rusting for years, need completely replaced.
Of course, Sambala directors are probably no longer concerned with the issues they have left behind for owners and investors.
My contact has suggested that the properties were built with absolutely no weep vents installed, which are particularly important in humid climates and in with the monolitic cladding system that Samblala have employed. See following links...
http://www.weepa.com.au/knowledge-centre/leaky-building-syndrome/
http://www.weepa.com.au/knowledge-centre/importance-of-weep-holes/
This, on top of leaky roofs and rising damp from poorly built foundations potentially means that floors, platerboards, external cladding and all woodwork, together with all the iron work that has been rusting for years, need completely replaced.
Of course, Sambala directors are probably no longer concerned with the issues they have left behind for owners and investors.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Sambala Developments Ltd filed for bankruptcy in June 2014, several
investors informed me this week. I have been sent this link as proof www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/2138646
I have also seen the minutes of a meeting held by a new investor action group called SIIG which has around half the original 500 property investors and owners as members. It appears that Sambala directors are largely uncontactable now and the part completed resort has been left unprotected as Sambala's security firm MMR has left site. Sambala owe €200,000 to that firm. Several owners have reported that they have visited the site recently to find it and their properties in an appalling and neglected state. There is no power or water available and Dominic McGlynn's last statement to investors was that no one is permitted to enter the site - not even owners who have their title deeds and are perfectly entitled to access their properties as and when they like. The situation is clearly well beyond the point of no return with creditors lining up, and SIIG taking emergency measures to secure the site themelves as Sambala directors apparently go AWOL. With one final kick in the teeth - an investor tells me that directors have put in claims to the UK Treasury dept via their bankruptcy to have wages and layoff money paid to the total of £50,000. This is even though they owe the UK taxman £30,000. Even the latest investment company Sambala claimed to have secured funding from looks to be a sham. Apparently Sambala showed proof of the investment to several investor reps on a non-disclosure basis last year. But after the supposed funding fell thru the details were shared with investors. Some of them investigated the alleged funder and found it be one of a number of shell companies elaborately set up by the same directors, with no proof they have any cash or have ever invested in anything. All seems to be part of the long running attempt by Sambala to deter investors from reporting their activities to the authorities.
I have also seen the minutes of a meeting held by a new investor action group called SIIG which has around half the original 500 property investors and owners as members. It appears that Sambala directors are largely uncontactable now and the part completed resort has been left unprotected as Sambala's security firm MMR has left site. Sambala owe €200,000 to that firm. Several owners have reported that they have visited the site recently to find it and their properties in an appalling and neglected state. There is no power or water available and Dominic McGlynn's last statement to investors was that no one is permitted to enter the site - not even owners who have their title deeds and are perfectly entitled to access their properties as and when they like. The situation is clearly well beyond the point of no return with creditors lining up, and SIIG taking emergency measures to secure the site themelves as Sambala directors apparently go AWOL. With one final kick in the teeth - an investor tells me that directors have put in claims to the UK Treasury dept via their bankruptcy to have wages and layoff money paid to the total of £50,000. This is even though they owe the UK taxman £30,000. Even the latest investment company Sambala claimed to have secured funding from looks to be a sham. Apparently Sambala showed proof of the investment to several investor reps on a non-disclosure basis last year. But after the supposed funding fell thru the details were shared with investors. Some of them investigated the alleged funder and found it be one of a number of shell companies elaborately set up by the same directors, with no proof they have any cash or have ever invested in anything. All seems to be part of the long running attempt by Sambala to deter investors from reporting their activities to the authorities.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Sambala gone
The latest news on the Sambala saga is that they are now gone. Phones
disconnected and office shut. No one contactable at CV office either.
One investor has sent me the last update from Sambala which looks to
have been a 'breaking it gently' farewell to long suffering investors.
Directors at last admit they have no funding and that creditors are
chasing them for money. One non-CV bank is taking aggressive action to
recover a huge amount of money. This is on top of the injunction
freezing assets that I reported here last year. Now the local government
intends to seize properties on the unfinished resort to pay off taxes
owed. Viceroy are throwing in the towel. And that's just what Sambala
are admitting too. What is the full story, guys? The Grepnes cannot be
contacted in Monaco and clearly are indifferent to ongoing events.
Things can only get messier as their 3 other banks and other creditors
finally have no option but to foreclose or sue. But I guess this was all
pretty much predictable stuff for a while now.
So what next for Sambala and investors? According to my sources investors have already paid 60% of total funds but only 30% of the resort has been finished and investors were told last year at least €15million was needed just to fix up the dilapidating Village phase and upgrade and complete the unfinished apartment blocks and facilities. Sounds like they needed investors to cough up at least 150% of their original reserve prices to get the Village and Vivendas finished but then how much did they need to pay the banks back on top? How much of investors money did Grepne take to Monaco? Big questions with no believable answers?
Likely scenario based on current situation?? An investor tells me properties will probably get looted while the banks and local govt fight over Sambala Village assets. Banks will have to agree with govt to joint auction of apartments and other properties belonging to Grepne. Apparently he has over a hundred properties in his name. With no water or power grid supplying the site the properties may only fetch a few thousand euros each from locals who are happy to live with limited facilities. Who else would buy them? The half finished Sambala Village may become an extension of the local village on the edge of the resort with Vivendas and Fogos as a football pitch. At least it may become of some use to some people and the govt may eventually supply power to the area and turn it into a new town for locals. Somehow I feel original investors will not feature as part of the equation.
Jake
So what next for Sambala and investors? According to my sources investors have already paid 60% of total funds but only 30% of the resort has been finished and investors were told last year at least €15million was needed just to fix up the dilapidating Village phase and upgrade and complete the unfinished apartment blocks and facilities. Sounds like they needed investors to cough up at least 150% of their original reserve prices to get the Village and Vivendas finished but then how much did they need to pay the banks back on top? How much of investors money did Grepne take to Monaco? Big questions with no believable answers?
Likely scenario based on current situation?? An investor tells me properties will probably get looted while the banks and local govt fight over Sambala Village assets. Banks will have to agree with govt to joint auction of apartments and other properties belonging to Grepne. Apparently he has over a hundred properties in his name. With no water or power grid supplying the site the properties may only fetch a few thousand euros each from locals who are happy to live with limited facilities. Who else would buy them? The half finished Sambala Village may become an extension of the local village on the edge of the resort with Vivendas and Fogos as a football pitch. At least it may become of some use to some people and the govt may eventually supply power to the area and turn it into a new town for locals. Somehow I feel original investors will not feature as part of the equation.
Jake
Saturday, February 15, 2014
BREAKING NEWS! Sambala gone bust??
It appears that Jonathan Grepne has now walked away from the failed
Sambala resort, leaving 200+ owners with unusable properties and 300
investors out of pocket. Grepne has remained behind the scenes since
this sorry saga started in 2007, rarely facing investors directly.
Instead his frontman Dominic McGlynn has made promise after promise,
many of them very tall tales indeed (as you can plainly see by working
through the published newsletters on this blog). As recently as August
2012 did Mr McGlynn tell investors that he had all the money in the bank
to finish construction and then signed a deal with Viceroy Hotels to
manage the resort once finished. He then told investors to pay more
money because all was on track again. He even told investors that the
March 2013 court order freezing all assets of the resort was of no
concern (something they failed to even disclose - investors first
learned of it on this blog!)
Only a few months ago did Dominic McGlynn advise investor reps again that he had signed up yet another big funder who was about to put the money in the bank and that Viceroy were about to put a development manager on site. However soon after that the Supreme Court threw out Sambala's appeals re the injunction and confirmed all assets will remain frozen (I have seen the documents to prove it).
But even more telling, only last month Cape Verde newspaper A Nacao reported that Mr Grepne and his wife Penelope Grepne have been refusing to talk to the government about taxes that they owe on the many Sambala properties they retained for their own future purposes. This €450k in overdue tax goes back to 2008. If he had any faith in the project he would not be abandoning these properties, some of which the govt says they will be seizing and auctioning off because 'all attempts at dealing with the Grepnes from their home in Monaco have failed.' Surely Grepne has the money to pay the outstanding taxes if he can afford to live in Monaco, but he clearly thinks it's a waste of time and now blames investors for not coughing up even more money. (Investors accuse him of using their money to live in Monaco since 2006 instead of spending it on their properties).
So it makes you wonder why Sambala and Viceroy declared that Sambala Village would be finished and open by end of 2013 and Vivendas by 2014 when all this was going on and hardly any construction work was going on during the last 12 months. In fact, they have barred existing owners from using their own properties since early last year. It also stretches the imagination as to how any multi-millionaire investor would have injected any money into this project with all the issues surrounding it.
Now hundreds of investors, out of pocket to the tune of €50 million, are wondering where all the money has gone and how so little was acheived with so much upfront cash. It is reported that neither McGlynn, Grepne or Sambala's offices in the UK and Cape Verde are taking calls, leaving their investors high and dry.
Scam, sham or shambles of meteoric proportions - its anyone's guess.
View the latest news article just google 'Sambala A Nacao' and click 'Translate this page' next to the search result for www.anacao.cv
The same news story also featured on national TV channel RTC on the same day.
LATE ADDITION!! - Hotelchatter.com have just reported that Viceroy have apparently walked away. I guess they were just consultants hired by Sambala and had nothing to lose. I wonder did Sambala pay them in full!!
Only a few months ago did Dominic McGlynn advise investor reps again that he had signed up yet another big funder who was about to put the money in the bank and that Viceroy were about to put a development manager on site. However soon after that the Supreme Court threw out Sambala's appeals re the injunction and confirmed all assets will remain frozen (I have seen the documents to prove it).
But even more telling, only last month Cape Verde newspaper A Nacao reported that Mr Grepne and his wife Penelope Grepne have been refusing to talk to the government about taxes that they owe on the many Sambala properties they retained for their own future purposes. This €450k in overdue tax goes back to 2008. If he had any faith in the project he would not be abandoning these properties, some of which the govt says they will be seizing and auctioning off because 'all attempts at dealing with the Grepnes from their home in Monaco have failed.' Surely Grepne has the money to pay the outstanding taxes if he can afford to live in Monaco, but he clearly thinks it's a waste of time and now blames investors for not coughing up even more money. (Investors accuse him of using their money to live in Monaco since 2006 instead of spending it on their properties).
So it makes you wonder why Sambala and Viceroy declared that Sambala Village would be finished and open by end of 2013 and Vivendas by 2014 when all this was going on and hardly any construction work was going on during the last 12 months. In fact, they have barred existing owners from using their own properties since early last year. It also stretches the imagination as to how any multi-millionaire investor would have injected any money into this project with all the issues surrounding it.
Now hundreds of investors, out of pocket to the tune of €50 million, are wondering where all the money has gone and how so little was acheived with so much upfront cash. It is reported that neither McGlynn, Grepne or Sambala's offices in the UK and Cape Verde are taking calls, leaving their investors high and dry.
Scam, sham or shambles of meteoric proportions - its anyone's guess.
View the latest news article just google 'Sambala A Nacao' and click 'Translate this page' next to the search result for www.anacao.cv
The same news story also featured on national TV channel RTC on the same day.
LATE ADDITION!! - Hotelchatter.com have just reported that Viceroy have apparently walked away. I guess they were just consultants hired by Sambala and had nothing to lose. I wonder did Sambala pay them in full!!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Clarification
I do not intend to concentrate on one developer but most of the emails I
have received to date have been about Sambala. I would like to answer
the concern expressed by one emailer about my motives for publishing the
news on the injunction against Sambala:
I can categorically state that I am NOT a Sambala investor and I have no agenda against them. On this blog I publish facts backed by documents. As you can see I have published news articles, links and comments about various Cape Verde developers and I started this blog recently in support of other investors in various resorts, Vila Verde being one, and in light of the fact that the British Foreign Office now advises extreme caution regarding investing in Cape Verde.
I do not provide any information to journalists, I merely report on news articles that I find. In Sambala's case, they have never contacted me to refute anything on this blog (after all, I only publish their own newsletters and official documents). I am advised that they are denying that BCA bank is involved in the arresto. If I receive a verifiable email from BCA bank confirming they are not involved then I will be happy to put the record straight. Otherwise, given the apparent track record of Sambala's reliability when it comes to facts, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt to A Nacao, who Sambala have been very happy to use to promote 'good things' about Sambala recently.
Jake
I can categorically state that I am NOT a Sambala investor and I have no agenda against them. On this blog I publish facts backed by documents. As you can see I have published news articles, links and comments about various Cape Verde developers and I started this blog recently in support of other investors in various resorts, Vila Verde being one, and in light of the fact that the British Foreign Office now advises extreme caution regarding investing in Cape Verde.
I do not provide any information to journalists, I merely report on news articles that I find. In Sambala's case, they have never contacted me to refute anything on this blog (after all, I only publish their own newsletters and official documents). I am advised that they are denying that BCA bank is involved in the arresto. If I receive a verifiable email from BCA bank confirming they are not involved then I will be happy to put the record straight. Otherwise, given the apparent track record of Sambala's reliability when it comes to facts, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt to A Nacao, who Sambala have been very happy to use to promote 'good things' about Sambala recently.
Jake
Monday, April 1, 2013
More news on Injunction against Sambala
Further to my last post I have been sent the following link
which reports that one of Sambala's funders BCA bank is involved in the
arresto/seizure of assets. I have yet to receive confirmation of this
from my source and will keep you posted on developments. My next post
will be an update on Vila Verde.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Breaking News
Injunction against Sambala resort
I have just been passed reliable information from a contact in Cape Verde that a few weeks ago a Cape Verde judge upheld the application for an injunction/arresto against Sambala's assets, which include the Sambala Village and Vivendas properties. This has been granted to a large number of investors who are suing for breach of contract. An official claim has already been lodged in the Praia Land Registry against Sambala's assets which makes it difficult for Sambala to pass on deeds of affected property. If you read my reports on the Paradise Beach, Esmeralda Beach and Ponta Bicuda resorts you will see precedents had already been set for this sort of thing. View and download the court judgement here
Readers should keep an eye out for this story in the Cape Verde media.
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I have just been passed reliable information from a contact in Cape Verde that a few weeks ago a Cape Verde judge upheld the application for an injunction/arresto against Sambala's assets, which include the Sambala Village and Vivendas properties. This has been granted to a large number of investors who are suing for breach of contract. An official claim has already been lodged in the Praia Land Registry against Sambala's assets which makes it difficult for Sambala to pass on deeds of affected property. If you read my reports on the Paradise Beach, Esmeralda Beach and Ponta Bicuda resorts you will see precedents had already been set for this sort of thing. View and download the court judgement here
Readers should keep an eye out for this story in the Cape Verde media.
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