Multiple arrests made for falsifying work contracts to obtain residence permits in Spains’ Alicante

SPAIN’S National Police arrested multiple people accused of falsifying work contracts to obtain residence permits, as reported on Sunday, December 18.

The National Police in Spain brought down a network dedicated to falsifying work contracts and Social Security fraud in Costa Blanca’s Alicante.

According to the police, the operation began following an anonymous tip-off accusing the owner of a consultancy firm in the city of Alicante of defrauding foreigners in “vulnerable situations”.

Spanish news outlet Informacion revealed that it was a Moroccan woman working at the consultancy firm who recruited the clients and promised them work contracts, which is one of the main requirements to obtain a residence permit in Spain.

The firm would then ask each of the clients to pay between €5,000 and €9,000 in advance once they had confirmed they required their services.

The lawyer in charge of the consultancy firm would then contact several employers who would fraudulently offer to create jobs for the clients, which were not real.

When the firm received the advance payment for their services, they would send documentation to the foreigners’ office in Alicante with deliberate mistakes in order for the applications to be rejected.

Several victims told National Police officers that when they went to the office to complain about the firm, they were coerced into not reporting the facts to the police, arguing that if they did so, they would be deported and would never obtain a residence permit, as reported by Informacion.

In all, nine people were arrested, including five businessmen and the lawyer who owned the consultancy firm.

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