Puerto Azul Holdings, Domenico Giannini from Italy, Fabio La Rosa from Noval Punta Cana, Major Real Estate Scam Italian authorities announced Tuesday that they have arrested seven suspected fraudsters who are believed to have lured more than 200 people into investing in an "eight star" resort in Belize that was never built. Belize Punta Cana and Italy

A duo of Italian foreign investors who got the Government of Belize’s support years ago to explore the development of what had been billed as an ultra-luxury, 8-star resort dubbed Puerto Azul, near the Great Blue Hole, have been arrested on allegations that they were using the project as a part of a “Ponzi scheme” which duped over 200 investors, including famous Hollywood actors John Travolta and Andrea Bocelli, out of over 20 million euros, or nearly 40 million Belize dollars.

Travolta and Bocelli, two Hollywood actors, were famously photographed back in 2014 at the launch of the Puerto Azul project in Cannes, France. Other notable figures at the event were three Belizean officials: Tourism Minister Manuel Heredia, Investment and Trade Minister Erwin Contreras and Special Envoy for Women and Children – Kim Simplis Barrow, wife of Prime Minister Dean Barrow.

Belizean authorities had suggested that Puerto Azul, which had been publicly supported by Travolta, would be hosting Emmy-style events—a pitch which seems now to be just an elusive dream given the latest developments. The resort was to have been built between 2013 and 2017, but an environmental impact assessment—required for the large-scale project—was never submitted.

Slide of organization https://es.slideshare.net/mariomoscadelli/operazione-puerto-azul

News Channel coverage http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/142012