47 people arrested over fraudulent residency applications after Brexit

The National Police have arrested 47 people for their alleged involvement in fraudulently registering British nationals as residents of Spain, following the UK's exit from the European Union. Three of the main suspects were in charge of a law firm in Marbella, while two others operated from a law firm in Ceuta in mainland Spain.

With the arrests, police investigators say they have dismantled two criminal networks which appear to have been operating independently of each other, even though they were applying the same tactics.

The alleged fraud involves “manipulated” documentation in applications for residency permits via the foreign immigration office in Malaga in the Costa Del Sol.

The five main culprits are accused of crimes of belonging to a criminal organisation, encouraging illegal immigration, and forging documents, charging an average of 1,600 euros for each registration, and the remaining 42 were arrested for applying for residency in Spain with fraudulent documents.

The arrests were made in Marbella after investigations established that 120 applications for residency permits were fraudulent. These were denied or cancelled after they were granted. At least three of those applying for residency were supposed criminals looking to hide in the south of Spain.

The National Police received a tip-off in April 2021 from staff at the foreign immigration office in Malaga, who alerted police that certain documentation they were receiving to prove residency looked as though it had been tampered with.

Based on these suspicions, officers analysed more than 200 application files of British nationals and found false documents in more than half of them. Most of them had forged documents such as rental contracts, medical insurance policies, bank statements, and invoices, and others that, in some way, justified the applicants residency in Spain prior to the Brexit deadline date.

As a result of the investigations, it has been surmised that all the suspects sought to legalise their status by paying an average of 1,600 euros per person, always in cash and in places away from the offices where the members of the organisation carried out their activities.

After searching the homes of the leaders of the organisations, who were based in Malaga and Ceuta, officers found a large amount of documentation related to the accusations.