Aging victims exploited by a crime ring tied to real estate and cadastre fraud

Eight people were arrested, and three others were being investigated in the provinces of Alicante, Valencia, and Bizkaia as authorities dismantled an organization that took the property of twenty-two elderly individuals who died in the Marina area. The core of the plot began with two Bizkaia based brothers, a 63-year-old woman who held a law degree, and a 54-year-old male insurance broker. Also implicated were two funeral home workers in Marina Alta, a nursing home employee, and a former city hall worker from the same region.

The majority of the victims were foreign nationals who died in Alicante without heirs, a factor that facilitated the scam. The covid-19 pandemic amplified the scheme by increasing death numbers and creating opportunities for the group to expand illegal activity. Investigators from the Civil Guard demonstrated that the conspiracy seized about twenty properties valued at over three million euros, in addition to jewelry, cash, bank accounts, and other assets belonging to the deceased.

The documents show police intervention at the dismantled site in Marina Alta. INFORMATION

baptized as operation Black Hand, the case was announced this Monday, although arrests were carried out last October in Dénia, l Alfàs del Pi, Ondara, Calp, Oliva, and Sopelana in Bizkaia. Those involved faced charges including criminal organization, robbery, fraud, document falsification, embezzlement, money laundering, usurpation of civil status, and possession of illegal weapons across Alicante, Valencia, and Bizkaia based on their degree of involvement. The Education Court No. 2 in Dénia ordered imprisonment for the non-practitioner lawyer who led the gang and issued injunctions for the others.

Two of the twenty-two individuals whose estates were misused include Spanish nationals, with the remainder coming from France, Belgium, Switzerland, Britain, Germany, and Finland. The operation remains active, and investigators do not rule out additional victims.

The inquiry began in May 2021 after authorities learned that a house in Benissa, owned by a deceased person, had its judicial seal removed. The culprits also stole a Harley Davidson motorcycle and other objects, and they proceeded to renovate the property to rent it out.

Jewsels stolen from the dead

The initial phase of the investigation led the Civil Guard to two funeral home workers in Marina Alta. Investigators say these employees stole jewelry from a derelict estate, informing relatives and other group members who then contacted the homes of the deceased to obtain bank codes.

Once it was confirmed that no relatives had received the funeral, the two brothers, considered the leaders, took action.

Civil Guards intervened in the dispersed plot in Marina Alta. INFORMATION

The woman who stood as manager controlled twelve companies spanning real estate in Dénia and Euskadi, along with four agencies in Bilbao and Cantabria. Her brother owned an insurance brokerage. Real estate agents were used to rent or sell the deceased properties, while fake contracts made the deceased the guarantor of various companies. This approach ensured the deceased bore inheritance responsibilities and allowed the convenient confiscation of property.

Additionally, the brothers avoided tax obligations through a construction and renovation business, an insurance paperwork, and a mechanic workshop in Bilbao, along with two hotels in the provinces of Murcia and Valencia, a restaurant in Denia, and two offshore entities in Ireland and Malta. They also controlled a cultural association in Bilbao to simulate donations and non-payment during the deceased individuals’ lifetimes.

It was revealed that police intervened at the dismantled site in Marina Alta. INFORMATION

The organization also benefited from the involvement of a former town hall employee in Marina Alta, who used his knowledge to suggest irregular property registrations and cadastral changes. A member later served as a real estate registrar.

Among those detained, a worker at a nursing home in Marina Alta was found to have taken victims’ documents and bank keys, transferring more than 112,000 euros from two foreign nationals, one German and one Swiss.

The criminal network expanded in step with rising deaths from Covid-19 as families faced difficulties managing funerals and in several cases had no known heirs.

The usage procedure

A further method used by the group involved rights of use to acquire specific properties through prolonged possession within the legally prescribed periods. They exploited this route to handle tax payments and basic needs by renting the properties as vacation homes.

At least twenty properties were seized, valued at more than three million euros, including four in Paris. The Civil Guard shifted the operation to the exploitation phase in October of the previous year after detecting that the ringleader planned to travel abroad. The arrest of the principal woman and seven others, with three more under investigation, followed.

Records show the seizure of five firearms, almost one hundred pieces of jewelry, eleven thousand euros in cash, several computers and mobile devices, eight motor vehicles, a crypto wallet, twenty properties, and seventy-one bank accounts frozen.

The operation involved the Calp Civil Guard Judicial Police Regional Team and the Economic Crime Team of the Alicante Judicial Police, with cooperation from the Valencia command and the Bilbao and Cantabria units.