Identify theft in Nijar illegal worker scam, Costa de Almeria

ARRESTS: Police detained nine illegal workers, the company boss and two employees CREDIT: Policia Nacional Almeria

POLICE made 12 arrests after finding an agricultural business based in Nijar was employing illegal workers with false identities, in most cases provided by the company.
Operation Satelite, the result of a collaboration between the police and the Almeria Work and Social Security Provincial Inspection, led to the inspection of the company premises where nine workers were detained for identify theft and for being in the country without work and residency permits.
An analysis of the information, along with documentation taken from the illegal workers, revealed they had been using the identities of people who did have the permits and were registered with Social Security, but were not at the time employed; all of them were carrying photocopies of other’s IDs.
In some cases the detainees looked quite similar to the individuals whose IDs they were using, but in others there were age differences of more than 20 years, police reported.
The investigation also resulted in the arrest of the business owner and two company employees who were responsible for recruiting the Sub-Saharan workers and providing them with the copies of legal workers’ IDs or who told them to get a compatriot to give them a copy of their documentation.
They also instructed the illegal workers on how to respond should they be questioned on their identities by the authorities during a working day.
The 12 detainees face charges of identity theft, falsification of documentation and breaking immigration laws.

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Written by

Cathy Elelman

Cathy Elelman is the local writer for the Costa de Almeria edition of the Euro Weekly News.

Based in Mojacar for the last 21 years, Cathy is very much part of the local community and is always well and truly up on all the latest news and events going on in this region of Spain.

Her top goals are to do the best job she can informing the local English-speaking community, visitors to the area and the wider world about about the news in Almeria, to learn something new every day, and to embrace very new challenge this fast-changing world brings her way.

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