Joe, I've never been to Bulgaria Joe!

Phill Ewinn

Ah here, Joe is talking to some poor woman about ''pl**inum developements''. Bought an apartment for €95,000 from savings. The Bulgarian officials won't let lots of people get their money back.

Where are these people?? Shure enough a lad from Wickla could do with knowing some fools with money.

Anyone?

micropig

Phill Ewinn wrote: »

Ah here, Joe is talking to some poor woman about ''pl**inum developements''. Bought an apartment for €95,000 from savings. The Bulgarian officials won't let lots of people get their money back.

Where are these people?? Shure enough a lad from Wickla could do with knowing some fools with money.

Anyone?

Lots of Mafia in Bulgaria, I'm not surprised

Investments can go up as well as down

mikemac1

The mob has her money now

cocoshovel

I couldnt give a toss. Dont remind me that radio show exists.

Phill Ewinn

Hmmm. Right anyone here from the roundwood area who has gunz? May need own transport and access to a balaclava.

chin_grin

cocoshovel wrote: »

I couldnt give a toss. Dont remind me that radio show exists.

Ahhhhh Jayssssssuuuuusssssssss.

Green Mile

I'm Irish and have a Dublin accent and I can't understand what youse are on about.
Am I missing something here?

haminka

when googling the Platinum Devs, I came across this forum :

http://www.bulgariandeals.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3

Reading through it I feel angry at my parents who injected me with so many moral scruples I'm not even capable of nicking a chocolate bar in a supermarket. People actually invest in all kind of shoot without knowing anything about the country and circumstances. I remember watching Pope's Children and the people on the plane to Bulgaria who were chanting "We are going to buy an apartment in Bulgaria". WTF? Were they really so mad as to believe this is the best way to invest? What kind of an idiot do you have to be to buy an apartment in a country you know nothing about and probably have never been to? Do these people really exist?

micropig

cocoshovel wrote: »

I couldnt give a toss. Dont remind me that radio show exists.

Your could talk to Joe about it

RoverZT

cocoshovel wrote: »

I couldnt give a toss. Dont remind me that radio show exists.

I had some great weekends thanks to those headshops and that ****er closed them.

****.

counterlock

Its a bleedin' disgrace Joe!

My name is URL

People sure are stupid sometimes. Imagine handing that much money away without being 100% sure that it was safe to do so. No sympathy for them

And besides, what's the big attraction with Bulgaria? I was there for a stag weekend a few years ago and it seemed like a bit of a shithole. I can think of far better places to risk losing €100,000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQCP85FngzE

ejmaztec

It was the Wombles' doing, giving the impression that Uncle Bulgaria was a harmless likeable fellah, when in fact he was a right thieving lying bastard.

pcardin

micropig wrote: »

Lots of Mafia in Bulgaria, I'm not surprised

Investments can go up as well as down

Don't think Bulgaria is something to do this at all. The biggest scum in Europe was (maybe still is ) an Irish man - Darragh MacAnthony founder and owner of the biggest scum MRI Overseas Properties. So many english and irish were riped off by him by selling tons of off-plans (without any planing permissions in place) around World, including Bulgaria. People from whole Europe is crying for him, not a word mentioned in Ireland.

haminka

My name is URL wrote: »

People sure are stupid sometimes. Imagine handing that much money away without being 100% sure that it was safe to do so. No sympathy for them

And besides, what's the big attraction with Bulgaria? I was there for a stag weekend a few years ago and it seemed like a bit of a shithole. I can think of far better places to risk losing €100,000.

I've been to many places in Ireland which made the Bulgarian sh..hole look like a paradise, at least they have decent weather over there. Maybe you shouldn't insult a country you probably never saw sober and know nothing about except for the genuine Irish pubs.
This is not about the country, it's about stupid people who handed over their money to fraudsters of very much Irish origin.

Sergeant

I haven't checked recently, but I'm sure my extensive property portfolio in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria; Dubai; and Cape Verde are moving ever upwards in value. I'm not like those other chumps who engaged in financial prudence.

jack presley

pcardin wrote: »

So many english and irish were riped off by him by selling tons of off-plans (without any planing permissions in place) around World, including Bulgaria.

That just sums up the whole 'Property Expo' era. To be fair, if you bought off the plans without checking if the place even had planning permission, you were always at risk at it all going wrong

token101

So she spent €95000 on an apartment in a country she'd never been to? Is that the story? A fool and his money and all that!

counterlock

Malev airlines do really cheap flights out there
http://www.malev.hu/index_en.htm

:pac:

token101

pcardin wrote: »

Don't think Bulgaria is something to do this at all. The biggest scum in Europe was (maybe still is ) an Irish man - Darragh MacAnthony founder and owner of the biggest scum MRI Overseas Properties. So many english and irish were riped off by him by selling tons of off-plans (without any planing permissions in place) around World, including Bulgaria. People from whole Europe is crying for him, not a word mentioned in Ireland.

In fairness, if you're stupid enough to buy what's essentially a site without planning permission in a country you've never been to from some young guy with a nice suit and a D4 accent, well sorry but you're just stupid and someone was going to catch you sooner or later.

Green Mile

I'm following now

I've been to Bulgaira many a time. Heading over again this year too. I love it there, it is a paradise if you go to the right areas.

95,000 is a lot for property in bulgaria. That's double than most are worth. It must have been a really luxury place or the buyer is truly a knob

token101

token101 wrote: »

In fairness, if you're stupid enough to buy what's essentially a site without planning permission in a country you've never been to from some young guy with a nice suit and a D4 accent, well sorry but you're just stupid and someone was going to catch you sooner or later.

What he said.

Spending three times what a local would pay means you were never likely to shift it anyway without a huge loss, but handing that kind of scratch over to some snake oil salesman without even setting foot in the country just smacks of compound stupidity (Joe:p).

Morlar

token101 wrote: »

So she spent €95000 on an apartment in a country she'd never been to? Is that the story? A fool and his money and all that!

Maybe at the time that was all she could afford ? A few years ago in Ireland that amount would only get you about 1.5 parking spaces never mind an apartment. Didn't hear the radio programme but I gather these people were victims of fraudsters /organised crime? If so, I am not really understanding the whole 'hah - serves you right' attitude of this thread.

vandriver

Up until now,the one good thing about this recession was not having to listen to anyone even mentioning Sunny Beach.

haminka

Morlar wrote: »

Maybe at the time that was all she could afford ? A few years ago in Ireland that amount would only get you about 1.5 parking spaces never mind an apartment. Didn't hear the radio programme but I gather these people were victims of fraudsters /organised crime? If so, I am not really understanding the whole 'hah - serves you right' attitude of this thread.

Why can't people really wonder about gullibility of people who were ready to invest all they could afford into an unrealistic scheme? Of course she is a victim of a fraudster but nobody was holding a gun against her head and forced her to shell out the money, she was stupid enough to believe that investment in a country she'd never been to and probably knew zero about is a great idea. It doesn't mean people agree with those who took the money and ran.

Mammanabammana

Talk to Joe.

micropig

haminka wrote: »

Why can't people really wonder about gullibility of people who were ready to invest all they could afford into an unrealistic scheme? Of course she is a victim of a fraudster but nobody was holding a gun against her head and forced her to shell out the money, she was stupid enough to believe that investment in a country she'd never been to and probably knew zero about is a great idea. It doesn't mean people agree with those who took the money and ran.

they should have watched fair city and seen what happened to bob....

haminka

micropig wrote: »

they should have watched fair city and seen what happened to bob....

aehm ... may I ask what is fair city and who's bob?

micropig

haminka wrote: »

aehm ... may I ask what is fair city and who's bob?

Overall, you're probably better off that you don't know...but if you're ever going to invest in property in Bulgaria, it could be worth your while researching what happened to Bob.


Fair city: Crappy Irish Soap

Bob was a business man, with all the Celtic tiger accessories. His investment went badly wrong on his apartments in Bulgaria:D

pcardin

token101 wrote: »

In fairness, if you're stupid enough to buy what's essentially a site without planning permission in a country you've never been to from some young guy with a nice suit and a D4 accent, well sorry but you're just stupid and someone was going to catch you sooner or later.

Calling someone stupid you just made yourself stupid. As the saying goes " Stupid is stupid does".
Who said I bought anything, where in my post did you see that?! :eek:
I was just a member of one of the multiple investigation teams when fraud investigation was launched on late 2008 to investigate all the property deals done by irish MacRipoffer. You'll be surprised how many people were scammed by him and his company.
And btw all the properties he sold did had planning permission "on paper". Only after the investigation turned out that most of them didnt have anything.

My name is URL

haminka wrote: »

I've been to many places in Ireland which made the Bulgarian sh..hole look like a paradise

Well that's your prerogative. Mine is that it seemed like a bit of a kip.

at least they have decent weather over there.

Ah ok, well that negates all of its bad points so.

Maybe you shouldn't insult a country you probably never saw sober and know nothing about except for the genuine Irish pubs.

Maybe you shouldn't make such stupidly ignorant assumptions.

Mammanabammana

pcardin wrote: »

As the saying goes " Stupid is stupid does".

Actually, the saying goes "Stupid is AS stupid does"...





Tried sooooo hard to resist and just couldn't...

Banditoo

So basically some fools bought a house in Bulgaria and got scammed. Who cares?

foxyboxer

Things like that happen in a mania. Dutch Tulip mania anyone?
I'm sure investing in Bulgaria off the blueprints was deemed a smart and ballsy move back then.

lazygal

I've no sense of personal responsibility Joe, it's a disgrace other people don't fix all my problems for me.

foxyboxer

If someone losing money in a mania it does not follow that they are 'stupid'.

Considering Issac Newton (hardly stupid now was he) and his losing a fortune with the South Sea company.

“I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people”

Velvety

My name is URL wrote: »

Well that's your prerogative. Mine is that it seemed like a bit of a kip.

Neither of those things are prerogatives.

ziggy23

Mammanabammana wrote: »

Talk to Joe.

Best thing ever:D:D

Phill Ewinn

Nudder lad had his place built, finnished and paid for then couldn't get his deeds off the local authority.
In fairness to them would you trust someone who handed over so much cash. Properties over there aren't worth that kind of money.

They must think he's into something and needs to hide or launder cash maybe.

Chuck Stone

Mammanabammana wrote: »

Talk to Joe.

ziggy23 wrote: »

Best thing ever:D:D

Jesus!

I pressed the 'awful broadcasting' 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 buttons simultaneously and it sounds totally mental, like mad-in-the-head mental.

haminka

My name is URL wrote: »

Well that's your prerogative. Mine is that it seemed like a bit of a kip.



Ah ok, well that negates all of its bad points so.



Maybe you shouldn't make such stupidly ignorant assumptions.

they are not ignorant, just based on your comments.
oh no, wait, your stag party was actually a sightseeing trip so you had the time to see things like nessebar, varna, nevsky cathedral and they were all crap. ok, that explains it.

washman3

Was that person talking about the Sunset Resort in Pomorie/Sunny Beach.
Some place that. heard lots of people got scammed all right.
is it possible to listen back to JD's show today or does anyone have a link??

My name is URL

haminka wrote: »

they are not ignorant, just based on your comments.
oh no, wait, your stag party was actually a sightseeing trip so you had the time to see things like nessebar, varna, nevsky cathedral and they were all crap. ok, that explains it.

Actually, the guy who was getting married is a non-drinker, and as such not much of our time was spent in pubs. You appear to be getting hung up on the fact that I called it a stag weekend. It was 5 mates, in Varna for a weekend.

And I never said that it didn't have its good aspects.. it just seemed like a bit of a dodgy spot overall. People will be left with that impression when a large part of the tourism industry (as well as many politicians) there have known ties to organised criminal gangs such as the TIM group. Put it this way, I'd feel a lot safer walking by myself through the streets of Dublin at night than I would Varna. You may feel differently, but that was the impression I left with, and I'd be in no hurry to return.

Phill Ewinn

washman3 wrote: »

Was that person talking about the Sunset Resort in Pomorie/Sunny Beach.
Some place that. heard lots of people got scammed all right.
is it possible to listen back to JD's show today or does anyone have a link??

They'll be on again tomorrow I'd say. People can't resist this kinda stuff. Keltic Tiger Joe? Shure wasn't everyone doing it.

Sappa

I a good friend of mine fled Bulgaria during the communists regime and made it to OZ where he built up a little business and though it would be nice to try get back to his home country as his father passed away and he had to move into his apartment before the gypsies knew it was vacant claiming squatters rights,making it impossible to get them out..
He went back in 2003,met his old school friends who he had not seen in 20yrs and they all caught up on regular occasions,he went into business with some of his old friends and they opened a pub/restaurant,he pumped 50000 dollars into it,his life savings and was genuinely really happy.
Two weeks after the pub opened,a group of guys came in with his friend and informed him that now they were the new owners and if he did not want to end up in a shallow grave he best give it over,his mates coaxed him along for 6 months before this knowing full well that this was the end result.
He went back to Oz and reneged his Bulgarian citizenship and he has not been back or intends to go back since.
Now he said to me its fine to go o a short holiday for folk who have never been but when I told him about the craze of buying apartments by the Irish he just bluntly said it wont end well as the whole country is corrupt.

haminka

My name is URL wrote: »

Actually, the guy who was getting married is a non-drinker, and as such not much of our time was spent in pubs. You appear to be getting hung up on the fact that I called it a stag weekend. It was 5 mates, in Varna for a weekend.

And I never said that it didn't have its good aspects.. it just seemed like a bit of a dodgy spot overall. People will be left with that impression when a large part of the tourism industry (as well as many politicians) there have known ties to organised criminal gangs such as the TIM group. Put it this way, I'd feel a lot safer walking by myself through the streets of Dublin at night than I would Varna. You may feel differently, but that was the impression I left with, and I'd be in no hurry to return.

I think you arehung up on the fact that Dublin is such a safe place. Well, there were people beaten up for nothing in the middle of the day and I personally wouldn't walk through Dublin in the night on my own. As for organised crime, Dublin is well up there and it was in Dublin that I've seen 12 year old teenagers heating up crack in the bushes to get their shot. And I live in a small town but just this morning a lady walking to work at around 5.30 AM was quite lucky because me and another car were driving along the quays where she was shouted at and groped by two drunk idiots.
Every country has its dark corners and bad spots so I, even if I'm not Bulgarian feel rather put off by people who make some very simplistic statements about a country they've seen for two days as tourists. People could visit Ireland and get some very experience if they took the night Dublin bus, visited Ballymun or Finglas or were molested by junkies on Dublin quays or a pack of drunk rabid bitches who seem to roam Dublin streets in the night. Same with Bulgaria or any other country that's not in total ruins.
Loads of blame is put on Bulgarian mafia but how about the nice Made in Ireland lads who were looking for easy targets, sorry, investors in Eire? Guys who can't live in but still have to pay for Priory Hall apartments weren't victims of some foreign organised crime group.

Sappa

haminka wrote: »

My name is URL wrote: »

Actually, the guy who was getting married is a non-drinker, and as such not much of our time was spent in pubs. You appear to be getting hung up on the fact that I called it a stag weekend. It was 5 mates, in Varna for a weekend.

And I never said that it didn't have its good aspects.. it just seemed like a bit of a dodgy spot overall. People will be left with that impression when a large part of the tourism industry (as well as many politicians) there have known ties to organised criminal gangs such as the TIM group. Put it this way, I'd feel a lot safer walking by myself through the streets of Dublin at night than I would Varna. You may feel differently, but that was the impression I left with, and I'd be in no hurry to return.

I think you arehung up on the fact that Dublin is such a safe place. Well, there were people beaten up for nothing in the middle of the day and I personally wouldn't walk through Dublin in the night on my own. As for organised crime, Dublin is well up there and it was in Dublin that I've seen 12 year old teenagers heating up crack in the bushes to get their shot. And I live in a small town but just this morning a lady walking to work at around 5.30 AM was quite lucky because me and another car were driving along the quays where she was shouted at and groped by two drunk idiots.
Every country has its dark corners and bad spots so I, even if I'm not Bulgarian feel rather put off by people who make some very simplistic statements about a country they've seen for two days as tourists. People could visit Ireland and get some very experience if they took the night Dublin bus, visited Ballymun or Finglas or were molested by junkies on Dublin quays or a pack of drunk rabid bitches who seem to roam Dublin streets in the night. Same with Bulgaria or any other country that's not in total ruins.
Loads of blame is put on Bulgarian mafia but how about the nice Made in Ireland lads who were looking for easy targets, sorry, investors in Eire? Guys who can't live in but still have to pay for Priory Hall apartments weren't victims of some foreign organised crime group.

Bulgaria like all eastern European countries has a massive underbelly of corruption fueled by a huge mafia influence.
This has always been the case for many many decades and it's ingrained in the population.
How people who invested in the country could not have known this as it's not a secret and it's just accepted that this is the case.
Ireland on the other hand has loads of corruption,political favours for financial gain but it's hidden away behind a web of deceit.
I think I prefer the eastern European way as it's open and they are not trying to bull**** the population on the other hand we live in a banana republic here and it's hushed under the carpet.

My name is URL

haminka wrote: »

I think you arehung up on the fact that Dublin is such a safe place. Well, there were people beaten up for nothing in the middle of the day and I personally wouldn't walk through Dublin in the night on my own. As for organised crime, Dublin is well up there and it was in Dublin that I've seen 12 year old teenagers heating up crack in the bushes to get their shot. And I live in a small town but just this morning a lady walking to work at around 5.30 AM was quite lucky because me and another car were driving along the quays where she was shouted at and groped by two drunk idiots.
Every country has its dark corners and bad spots so I, even if I'm not Bulgarian feel rather put off by people who make some very simplistic statements about a country they've seen for two days as tourists. People could visit Ireland and get some very experience if they took the night Dublin bus, visited Ballymun or Finglas or were molested by junkies on Dublin quays or a pack of drunk rabid bitches who seem to roam Dublin streets in the night. Same with Bulgaria or any other country that's not in total ruins.
Loads of blame is put on Bulgarian mafia but how about the nice Made in Ireland lads who were looking for easy targets, sorry, investors in Eire? Guys who can't live in but still have to pay for Priory Hall apartments weren't victims of some foreign organised crime group.

I don't think Dublin is a safe place at all. As you rightly say, everywhere has it's problems. The underworlds and levels of corruption in Bulgaria and Ireland though, are almost incomparable. It's frightening how narrow the line between legitimate businesses and criminal fronts is. In many Bulgarian towns, front groups are the biggest employers.. and it's no secret to either the people themselves or the authorities, who don't seem to be able to or interested in doing anything about it bar the odd show trial for viewers in Brussels.