Gang ‘using’ the Ukraine
More arrests have not been ruled out
A GANG has been busted in Torrevieja for offering fake documents to citizens of other countries so they could pretend to be from Ukraine and receive protection as refugees.
According to the National Police, they started investigating after detecting fake documents presented by two Russians.
The force’s units against illegal immigration and document forgery (UCRIF) in Alicante and Valencia made enquiries to determine where these documents had come from.
Officers first arrested 16 suspects from Russia, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova, who had acquired fake documents for the same purpose as the previous two, which included permanent residency cards, and marriage, birth and death certificates.
Eventually they tracked down the people allegedly responsible for these forgeries, a woman and two men who ran an administrative services agency (gestoría) in Torrevieja, who found potential clients for the gang and charged them between €3,000 and €5,000 per document.
These three suspects are not only accused of falsifying documentation, but also of facilitating
illegal immigration and belonging to a criminal group.
The searches carried out by officers seized a wealth of documentation, official stamps, embossed paper, all sorts of blank official documents from countries such as Russia and Moldova, tools including an electronic heatsealing machine, a card payment terminal, two laminators, photography paper and several software programmes for forging documents, as well as €23,500 in cash.
The three alleged ringleaders were handed over to a court in Torrevieja and the other suspects were released after making statements to police.
The investigation remains open and more arrests have not been ruled out once the large quantity of data has been analysed, including physical and digital records confiscated in the police searches.