this National Police The Government Delegation reported that it dispersed a gang that defrauded a little more than one million euros in Bizkaia, collecting Income Guarantee Income (RGI) and 62 fake IDs from Basque employment service Lanbide.
The half-year operation of the Bilbao Provincial Immigration and Border Brigade, 23 people were arrested, All of them, including the Senegalese citizen at the head of the group, are accused of foreign origin, criminal organization, fraud and forged documents.
The gang leader created 62 fake identities, using other people to raise money. public assistance for housing rental (PCV) and basic income (RGI) is aimed at under-resourced individuals and families, with an average of 857 euros (625 RGI and 250 PCV) per month for each discharged person, resulting in embezzlement of 1,091,416 euros.
The components of the network physically presented themselves to the Lanbide offices with fake passports with fake passports, registering the fictitious person, pretending to be him and performing the necessary procedures in front of this body. others have devoted themselves to renting houses and registering these invented people in their homes.
To do this, they falsified passports and registration documents so that they could prove that a person was registered in the Basque Country for three years, a necessary requirement to receive these benefits and thus collect from the very first moment they were created. fake identity.
To prevent Lanbide from detecting any irregularities, ringleader instructed members of the criminal network So they can offer aid applications in different municipalities of Bizkaia, such as Durango, Santurzi, Berriz, Iurreta, Basauri or Getxo.
Moreover, the criminal network also falsified medical reports and certificates of completion of training courses, so as not to suspend assistance due to the applicant’s failure to physically show up in front of the Lanbide offices.
The first phase of the police operation was carried out with the arrest of a Cameroonian citizen at the beginning of the year, and at the end of March, 9 more people were arrested, including the main person under investigation, and two homes were searched. 22 fake passports intercepted by agents, 16 bank books on behalf of fake IDs, 17 credit cards, 9 mobile phones, external hard drive and various documents related to Lanbide.
On June 2, the National Police arrested 13 more.
The detainees were released on charges after testifying at the Bilbao National Police High Headquarters and testifying at the Bilbao Investigation Court No.