Police put the brakes on Costa car “fraudsters” in Spain

A REGIONWIDE fraud syndicate was busted after seven people were arrested in three locations up and down the Costa. Their ruse was to allegedly buy top-end vehicles in Germany and, without paying any VAT, register them here in Spain to unsuspecting victims.

Plans were thwarted after officers discovered a Guardamar del Segura company had registered two vehicles to one person and, only two days later, transferred them a second time to third parties.

After a complex and extensive investigation over three months, it was found that the gang used stolen ID to forge signatures, falsified VAT paperwork and transferred vehicle ownership to people without their consent.

This part of the operation was purely so that the unsuspecting “owners” would be incriminated, once their “crime” was discovered.

The investigations uncovered the use of 12 high-end vehicles, estimating a total fraud of more than 48,800 euros. Five Spanish men and two women (aged between 26 & 52) were arrested in Alicante, Torrevieja and Benidorm.

Three of the 12 cars were recovered because they were still in possession of the fraudsters, while the remaining nine are fully identified and located, pending resolution by the Treasury Administration.