EXCLUSIVE: ‘Heartless’ boss at centre of Spain’s Iberian Funerals scandal confirmed to have died in Portugal as missing millions mystery deepens

THE Olive Press can confirm the death of a beleaguered expat funeral planning boss, who vanished ‘owing millions’ to his clients in Spain.

We have established that Stephen Nelson, behind the defunct company Iberian Funeral Plans, died in Portugal earlier this year.

The founder of the firm, which has shut leaving, likely, thousands of victims out of pocket, passed away on the Algarve.

Portugal’s official register office confirmed the death and said it would be sending us a copy of the death certificate next week.

READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Brit fury in Spain after major funeral planner vanishes – hundreds of end-of-life plans at risk while crematoriums refuse to hand over ashes

The Conservatoria dos Registos Civil branch, in Castro Marim, revealed British expat Stephen George Nelson had died ‘in the Lagos area’.

They declined to comment further, but gave us an official register number.

It comes after Citizens Advice Bureau Spain (CAB) had rowed back on an announcement he had died, being unable to confirm it.

READ MORE: Expats who’ve lost thousands demand tighter regulation of Spain’s funeral plan sector after collapse of Iberian 

It came after the group described the closure of the firm last month as ‘despicable’ and ‘heartless’, with many expats finding funeral services for their loved ones were no longer covered.

Although the company website is still online, the firm has not been responding to any emails for the past month, and its telephone lines run dead.

Iberian itself has offered no confirmation, nor any information at all, to its customers on the company’s apparent collapse.

READ MORE: OPINION: The Iberian Funeral scandal is a disgraceful betrayal of the British expat community in Spai

An Olive Press investigation suggests that there may be hundreds, if not thousands, of customers with worthless contracts.

Each policy offered by Iberian cost more than €3,000 (and sometimes as much as €7,250). 

This means the money missing could be well into the millions of euros.

According to a former employee, a key to what happened may be Nelson’s ex-partner Karen Krejzl, who we have been unable to locate.

Her parents, who live in Manilva, told us last month, they had not spoken to her for some time and claimed she ‘left Iberian years ago’ after ‘falling out with Nelson’.

CAB paralegal Myra Azzopardi told the Olive Press today she has been ‘up to all hours investigating into the night.’

Her group has now spoken to a lawyer about possible legal action that could be taken. Several Iberian customers have engaged with the lawyer and begun legal proceedings. 

Azzopardi has also recommended those affected file a police report (denuncia). 

The firm, which had offices in ten regions of Spain and Portugal, offered plans to make funeral preparations as easy as possible for family members back home.

“I took out a plan to save my children from all the heartache, but now it’s gone. I’m livid and furious, I thought I was doing the best thing for my children,” Torrevieja resident Sue Truman told the Olive Press. 

“There are hundreds in the same boat as me. I’m not going to let them get away with it.”

Companies who offer funeral services in the UK must be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, but Spain has no such safeguarding. 

Iberian therefore did not hold money in a trustee backed bank account, in spite of contracts which misleadingly stated funds were held in corporate bank accounts with BBVA, Santander and HSBC.

Azzopardi said she is not going to give up on finding out answers on what happened to the money held by Iberian.

“There’s an English expression, which says, ‘It ain’t over til the fat lady sings,’” she said.

“I personally cannot give up on these people, the affected parties.”