Spain Arrests 15 People Suspected of Facilitating Illegal Residence of Chinese Citizens
The criminal organization, based in the province of Malaga, provided its clients with false documentation to complete their residency applications, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
Through this operation, 15 people have been arrested in total – Malaga (nine), Torremolinos (four), Madrid (one) and León (one) – as suspected perpetrators of crimes against the rights of foreign nationals belonging to a criminal organization, false documents and money laundering.
In addition, the police seized and immobilized in court cash, bank accounts and real estate worth €1,700,000.
“The investigation originated in May 2019 with the arrest of a citizen of Chinese origin for a crime of false documentation. As a result of that arrest, the inquiries carried out by the agents revealed that numerous Chinese citizens residing in the province of Malaga had carried out the procedures for their regularization through an agency located in the capital of Malaga,” a statement issued by the Ministry of the Interior reads.
The Ministry has explained that the meticulous analysis of the files submitted by this agency allowed the investigators to verify that the network was responsible for providing its customers with false registration and simultaneous Social Security registration forms.
“In the specific case of residence applications for family reunification, the agents have verified that the applicants accredited the relationship with their alleged relatives through false notarial acts that came from the People’s Republic of China and where a simple declaration of an alleged family member was reflected before a notary,” the statement reads.
It has also been established that many beneficiaries of these requests did not even live in Malaga and only travelled to Spain to complete the procedures, immediately returning to their usual residence in other provinces or autonomous communities.
After the investigations, the police operation ended with the arrest of a leader of the organization among the 15 arrested persons.
In addition, entry and registration were carried out at two addresses in Torremolinos and at the Malaga city agency, in which €47,000, $17,300 and 4,120 yuan in cash, computers, and mobile phones were intercepted. At the same time, a bank account with €35,000 and eight properties worth €1,600,000 were also legally frozen.
