Fraud
Alicante recently became the scene of a new international arrest, this time involving a fugitive from Ukraine who was sought by Russian authorities. Despite ongoing war and Europe-wide restrictions on Russia, an international arrest warrant remained active for the suspect. The National Police detained a Ukrainian man, 31 years old, believed to be implicated in a scam carried out by a criminal group. He was located in a hotel in the city center and taken into custody, according to the Provincial Police Station report (Source: Policía Nacional).
The officers of Alicante’s Citizen Security Brigade had received information about a possible location of a Ukrainian national under an International Arrest Warrant issued by Russia for offenses alleged to have occurred toward the end of 2021. Even with Europe’s sanctions and the blockade against Russia, international judicial requests continue to stand for certain non-political crimes, including those pursued across the European Union. In this case, the authorities stated that the alleged offense was economic in nature and not connected to politics or the war, a detail confirmed by police sources consulted for this report (Attribution: Policía Nacional).
With that information, the National Police went to the hotel where the fugitive was believed to be staying, located him, and proceeded with the arrest at once (Attribution: Policía Nacional).
The arresting officers then filed the case for evaluation, and the Central Court of Instructing in Madrid, acting on guard duty, ordered the suspect to be turned over to the Alicante court of instruction on duty for further proceedings (Attribution: Policía Nacional).
Fraud Scheme
According to the International Detention Order issued by Russia, the detainee allegedly joined forces with another individual to form a criminal group aimed at enriching themselves through deceit and abuse of trust. They reportedly posed as a representative of a financial institution and used various ruses to convince a victim to transfer money, ultimately misappropriating about 88,000 rubles, roughly 850 euros, into a bank account under the detainee’s name (Attribution: Russian authorities via official detentions).
The case illustrates how a city like Alicante, with its substantial tourist footfall and a steady stream of international visitors, can attract individuals attempting to hide from justice. The province is known for a relatively high incidence of arrests of foreign nationals wanted by their home countries, a trend police officials point to when describing this region’s security dynamics (Attribution: Policía Nacional).