10,700 Ghost Students in Spain

Police have uncovered a money laundering web using training schemes as a cover to get government grants.

In actual fact, there were no courses – and no students.

The police investigation into the alleged fraud concluded that the first 10,671 students they interviewed had not been on the training courses they had been signed up for.

Police interviewed a random selection of hundreds of students, signed up for three different courses with Ucotrans Transport Company, without finding a single one who had completed the course.

Two people from Madrid, and one from Cordoba are all in prison provisionally for alleged fraud.

Aneri is the administrator of Sinergia, the company principally responsible for acquiring the funds from Madrid.

Tezanos was with the Chamber of Commerce in Madrid and was also a partner in companies offering allegedly false courses.

It is estimated that a total of €4.5 million was obtained illegally from state funds and another €4.4 million from regional funds, all funnelled through approximately 30 companies based in Madrid.

Another €6.5 million was accepted fraudulently from national funds.

Sinergia and Aneri were intermediaries to at least a dozen other companies, all defrauding regional, state or national coffers.