Wildfire followed by fraudulent actions of Fidelidade SA

One of the beautifully build chalets in the Almegue project, destroyed by the wildfire in June 2017

Wildfire, a serious impact of climate change in Portugal

It is 6.5 years ago that a deadly wildfire erupted in June 2017 across the Center of Portugal with devastating consequences. At least 66 people died and 204 were injured. The majority of the death took place in the Pedrógão Grande municipality.

It is the first devastating impact of the world wide climate change in Portugal, and the country was not prepared at all to combat the resulting disaster.

Dozens of other communities were severely affected, such as Cernache do Bonjardim in the conselho of Serta. The government declared three days of national mourning.

In Cernache do Bonjardim, most of the chalets in the ALMEGUE PROJECT, a tourist project in development at the shores of the Castelo de Bode Albufeira, are completely destroyed by the wildfire; with a financial damage of about 3 million euro.

Property insurance via Fidelidade SA, a Portuguese Insurance company and subsidiary of the Chinese Fosun International Group. 

Five chalets of the project are insured by Fidelidade SA, who up to now, 6 years after the fire, is illegally delaying the payment of the financial damage caused by the wildfire; A main part of it, are the consequential (collateral) financial costs resulting from the intentional delay of the payment since the end of 2017, inflicted by Fidelidade SA itself.

At the present U.N. climate conference (COP28 World Climate Action) in Dubai a new climate damage fund was approved to compensate countries for the damaging impact of the climate change.

In Portugal or within the European Community such a damage compensation fund still does not exist, in spite of the rapidly increasing large wildfires, in particular in the southern member states.

At the mercy of the insurance company

Like in Portugal, everyone in Europe with financial damages resulting from the wildfires, caused by the climate change, are all at the mercy of insurance companies. Companies, who have only one objective, that is to pay as less as possible, or finding with the help of dubious lawyer firms, artificial legal arguments for not paying at all.

In countries with weak legal systems, as in Portugal, it is creating next to the direct financial damages, a large amount of consequential (collateral) damage, and the longer it takes in court the larger it will be. Lawyers representing the insurance companies are trained to keep delaying the legal process in court as much as possible.

Large consequential (collateral) damages due to a chain of malicious and illegal actions comitted by Fidelidade SA and its lawyers..

This web site is dealing with such a pending case with large direct and consequential damages, still not be solved 6.5 years after this wildfire in Central Portugal of June 2017. The reconstruction costs have been surging in the last 4 years, as in the rest of Europe. Large consequential financial damages are still increasing due to the blockade of the project develoment by Fidelidade and its lawyers.

Fidelidade SA, with its malicious, illegal and most likely fraudulent actions, is blocking since the beginning of 2018 the restart of the Almegue project. A project with about 60 large, high quality wooden chalets.

Originally the malicious actions started already in 2001/2002 with the illegal cancellation of insurance contracts followed by a conviction in the Santarem court in 2015.

The sentence was at least three times serious violated, that is: refusal to restore the insurance contracts, refusal to restore these contracts in accordance with the General Conditions, and refusal to pay the financial damages only on the basis of the restored contracts of Transes International SA.

The resulting financial damages for the present owner of the Almegue Project, Jan van Es, is today already going into the millions of Euros.

There is also already for some time a pending new land use plan for the Castelo de Bode Albufeira (a new POACB) to replace the existing one of 2003; the plan that allows the Almegue project.

According to insiders, the possibility that the new POACB will include again the area for the Almegue project is minimal as the (blocked) project has not been started yet.

If that will be the case (probably known in the middle of 2024), Fidelidade SA will face an additional damage claim of more than nine million (9,000,000.=) Euros, next to the ongoing present claim anno 2023 for about the same amount of 9,000,000.= (nine million) Euros . See Financial Claim in 2023.

This legal process to delay or even to avoid the insurance payement is from the beginning, including the legal process in the Breda court, designed by the lawyers firm Morais Leitao, Galvao Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados in Lisbon, hired by Fidelidade.

Purpose of this Web Site

This Web site and Blog is reporting the malicious actions of Fidelidade SA, the largest insurance company in Portugal, and its lawyers that resulted up to now in the refusal to pay the financial damages in accordance with the law.

Presently the case serves in the COURT of CASTELO BRANCO, or better in its branche in Serta; hidden in one of the smallest courts in Portugal. (process 736/19.2T8CTB).

It will give a serious warning for the future, as the damaging impact of the climate change on individuals and companies in Europe will only increase.

People will lose their house and who will pay for the damage? The insurance companies ……?

It is time that the Commision of the European Community is taking action, as the estimated financial damage of the wildfires in Europe has cost so far 2 billion Euros, a large part resulting from the destruction of properties, people’s homes!

Last Developments

According to special investigations made by Almegue-Invest, it seems that all the insurance contracts, included and used by Fidelidade and its lawyers in the legal process serving in the Serta court, are invalid. (See Invalid Contracts!)

The seven original insurance contracts of Transes International SA are not restored as ordered before by the court of Santarem via a sentence in 2015.

In Jan/Feb of 2018 Fidelidade send “aviso-receibos” for seven new insurance contracts for the by the wildfire destroyed properties. Apparently, in the view of Fidelidade, to be meant as the restored original insurance contracts conform the sentence of the Santarem court in 2015.

There are serious doubts about the validity of these newly issued insurance contracts, as conform a recent evaluation they are in violation with all relevant articles of the Portuguese insurance law, Decree Law no 72/2008 of 16 of April, and in particular violating the articles 43 and 44, 49 and the articles 18 – 22.

Also the insurance contracts of the 5 previous promised buyers, represented by Gaspar Ferreira, are since 2015 invalid. and/or non existent, when the Lisbon court declared in its sentence the promised sales contracts of these 5 included creditors invalid (with no property rights, there are no valid insurance contracts).

With no valid insurance contracts included in the Serta process, as it seems to be, there will be a mistrial once the court becomes aware of these facts,

Even worse is the serious possibility of the existance of a committed orchestrated financial crime included in this Serta process Fidelidade started in 2019. See Criminal Actions !?

A financial crime including illegal actions committed by Fidelidade, its lawyers Morais Leitao and others, Gaspar Ferreira and the five previous promised buyers. It has all to do with the in this process included and endorced illegal damage claims, based on invalid and/or nonexistent insurance contracts from fake proporty owners at the time of the wildfire in June 2017.

A further criminal investigation is announced and will be started as soon as possible.

For both developments there are supporting articles with more details in Blog section of this website.