Police arrest 15 people over Four Million Euro Social Security Fraud in Malaga, Spain

The National Police have uncovered seven Social Security frauds that amount to more than four million euros in the province of Malaga and have arrested 15 people in the hospitality, catering, and health-care trades.

One of those arrested diverted money from a company that was legally bankrupt to another of his companies, while another of them intentionally ran up debt in his company, but always remained at the limit of what the law determines as a crime, the Police in Malaga reported.

The investigation began in September 2019 following several complaints that pointed out irregularities committed in various companies in Malaga and in the town of Fuengirola. The employers did not pay the social insurance of their workers and, after studying the documentation police observed that in all cases the intention was to avoid paying the debt and to defraud Social Security system.

In one case, a company director blatantly diverted almost 185,000 euros into a property and declared himself bankrupt the day after!

Investigators also discovered that another director of a company owed almost 50,000 euros in Social Security payments, just under the level of being a criminal offence, and had started another company using his wife as director to carry on the operation with his business.

This “scam” eventually ran up debts of over 450,000 euros to the Social Security System and both of these individuals were arrested for questioning.

As wider investigations continue, Police expect more arrests…