78,000 euros for a castle in the air Construction firm prices Swiss family out of house with pool and sea view
For a Swiss family, the planned dream home in Sardinia has turned into a nightmare. The Italian real estate company never started construction.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- A Swiss family has been cheated out of 78,000 euros by the Italian real estate company Arras Group.
- The company never completed the construction of a vacation home in Sardinia despite a down payment having been made.
- Legal action is being taken against the Arras Group. Those affected are still waiting for repayments or for the promised houses to be built.
A Swiss family from the canton of Zurich wanted to fulfill a long-cherished dream with a vacation home in Sardinia. The reality is different: The Arras Group, an Italian real estate company specializing in second homes by the sea, cheated the family out of their down payment, reports "Blick".
The family is not the only victim: people from Norway, Germany, Austria and the USA are also affected.
The Arras Group had announced the construction of 19 vacation homes in Badesi, a small village in northern Sardinia. The family was enthusiastic about the plans and paid a deposit of 78,000 euros (around 73,280 francs). The purchase contract states that the house should be completed by September 2023.
References generate trust
An inspection in July 2023 shows: The promised house was never built. The building land remained untouched. In response to the family's complaint, Enrico Arras, CEO of the real estate company, reassured them that construction was behind schedule. "But he assured us that the house would be completed in May 2024," the father of the aggrieved family told Blick.
This promise was also to remain unfulfilled. The house is still not standing today.
The family had relied on the professionally designed website and the company's supposedly trustworthy references.
Ongoing criminal proceedings
Despite the opening of a showroom in Neuchâtel and the involvement of prominent personalities such as Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari, the Arras Group fell into disrepute. The company was suspended from the Italian stock exchange and legal action was taken against it. The Swiss family and other parties concerned have filed a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor's office in Milan.
The Arras Group assures the victims that the money is not lost and that the houses are still being built. However, many of those affected are still waiting for repayments. The family has at least received a first installment back.
The editor wrote this article with the help of AI.