SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Dec. 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Agents of the National Police, in a joint operation with Europol, have arrested a person and seized dozens of properties in Spain valued at nearly 25,000,000 euros, allegedly acquired with money from a corruption case in Russia in which more than 230 million dollars were defrauded.
Specifically, it is the first operational exploitation in Spain of the so-called ‘Magnitsky case’, a fraud that began with the theft of documentation from companies related to a Russian investment fund with which the corrupt officials who carried it out fraudulently claimed a millionaire return to the Russian Public Treasury.
The investigation has been coordinated by the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption and Organized Crime and by the Central Court of Instruction number 2 of the National Court.
In order to clarify the different laundering operations detected, the National Police issued more than 40 reports through which the receipt of funds in Spain has been accredited, originating from foreign accounts and money companies from the so-called ‘case Magnitsky’, a case of corruption in Russia that led to the theft of some 230 million dollars committed by senior public officials.
The investigation carried out in Spain has detected a network of natural persons -the majority are Russian citizens with hardly any ties to Spain- and legal entities that would have received part of these fraudulent funds for the acquisition of real estate.
In addition, people of Russian descent have been detected who have bought luxury mansions with funds from this plot.
ANALYZED MORE THAN 1,000 BANK ACCOUNTS IN SPAIN
Agents have observed two modus operandi. On the one hand, the money from the fraud would have reached the bank accounts of Russian citizens supposedly domiciled in Spain for the acquisition of the properties.
On the other, Spanish real estate companies have been used, with strong ties to the Russian market, which acted as intermediaries, both for receiving the funds through their own bank accounts, and for managing the location and purchase of the goods.
The investigation team of the National Police attached to the Special Prosecutor’s Office is analyzing more than 1,000 Spanish bank accounts to determine the criminal responsibility of those involved, in an unprecedented investigation due to the amount of information that is handled.
So far, 75 real estate acquisition operations have been reconstructed, the acquisition value of which amounts to almost 25 million euros.
During the investigation, they have had the support of a specialist from the Anti-Corruption Group of the European Center against Economic and Financial Crime (EFECC) of EUROPOL, who also traveled expressly to Tenerife to support the acting investigators and analyze other possible links to corruption that may exist.
Likewise, five European Investigation Orders and an International Letter Rogatory have been processed and information has been requested, through EUROJUST, from 12 countries that are part of said institution.
19 EMBARGOED BANK ACCOUNTS
As a result of this operation, one person has been arrested for the moment in Tenerife and four entry and search procedures have been carried out.
The agents have intervened abundant documentation in physical and digital format, documents that after a first analysis would confirm the research hypotheses followed by the researchers.
Some 30,000 euros in cash and various jewels have also been seized.
As a consequence of this operational exploitation, the seizure of three other properties, two high-end vehicles and 19 bank accounts linked to the detainee has been requested.
Future arrests or new police and judicial actions related to the facts investigated in the operation are not ruled out.
