Egyptian fugitive Mohamed Ali paid thousands of euros to present fake project in Barcelona: Spanish journalist

Spain – 23 September 2020: The Egyptian wealthy fugitive Mohamed Ali, who has escaped to Spain, paid 200,000 euros to present to the press a fake project in Barcelona, dubbed the Three Chimneys Pyramid project, journalist Ignasi Jorro wrote.

The fake project in Sant Adrià de Besòs city in Barcelona was based on three contracts valued at 200,000 euros, Jorro said.

The three signatures helped Ali, who is wanted by Egypt on charges of tax evasion, to deceive media. The contracts are signed with engineering firm Alonso and the Rai Corporation and one of the advertising agencies, according to the contracts that we were able to see.

Ali arrived in Spain in 2018 with a golden visa, residency in exchange for buying a property worth more than 500,000 euros. He was known in Egypt to the artistic press and second-class films, and he came to Spain in search of attention.

There is no doubt that he found his way in the urban project, with the help of a number of managers, according to some close sources.

The most prominent of these directors was Chancellor Raphael Salanova of Roma.

Getting investors

Salanova is considered one of the famous businessmen in Barcelona. His commercial track record places him at the helm of Universal Proyectos.

But what role did he play with Mohamed Ali? He had promised to provide him with foreign investors to finance the fake project, according to the same sources.

The text of the contract that we have seen is that the cost should be paid in 10 installments, each of 50,000 euros, in addition to sales tax.

Cautious engineering office

In conjunction with the signing of the contract between Ali and Salanova, the Egyptian wealthy man searched for an engineering complex that would design the fake project.

The owner of the office stated that he had worked with Ali without going into any details. But the information we wanted we found in the contract that the two parties signed. Ali insisted that he obtain the design of converting part of the triple chimney area to a pyramid, but the "careful" office handed him a project to build a multi-purpose theme park in more than one site in the region of Catalonia.

As for the price, it was 30,000 euros paid according to the agreement, which is written in the investment project documents.

Deception

The last thing the deal would need was an advertising agency in Barcelona that was contracted for 40,000 euros, after which the project was announced in the press.

Ali got additional advantages from this investment, including communication with the media, as he presented himself to them as an opposition figure chased by his country, Egypt.

He also worked to confirm his previous image as a YouTuber, who opposes President Sisi’s regime. He expanded his presence on Facebook and began to be proud of more than a million followers.

I got what I wanted, he declared.

However, there was nothing, no pyramid project and no investors. In the summer of 2020, news of a quarrel broke out between him and Salanova after the latter accused him of deception, according to some police sources.