The Civil Guardwithin the framework of operation ‘Doctor-51’, has dismantled an organization and arrested eight members of the same in Almería, for allegedly swindling more than half a million euros with the method Man in the middle. Among those arrested are the corporate manager, the people who acted as economic mules and their recruiter.
In a note, the armed institute has detailed that two entries and searches have been carried out at homes and three legal entities have been investigated, suspending its commercial and commercial activities. Likewise, 41 bank accounts, 21 rural properties, two urban properties have been blocked and seized and a vehicle has been seized.
The detainees allegedly intercepted the emails of the injured companies and modified their account numbers to receive the money that was intended for them. Total, The swindled money reaches 638,442 euros and it is not ruled out that this figure will increasesince the organization operated not only at the national level, but also in other European countries such as the Czech Republic, France, Switzerland, Belgium or Italy and internationally in the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan or Hong Kong.
The scam consists of intercepting emails between two interlocutors and impersonate one or another to obtain and modify information sensitive such as bank account numbers.
The criminal organization had established specific roles for each of its members. The leaders were in charge of intercepting the emails of the companies that were going to scam and once they succeeded, They diverted the funds to accounts created in the name of front men and shell companies, thus making it difficult to trace the money and hiding its origin.
The constitution of these companies, in the name of intermediaries, only reflected the appearance of a company to receive transfers of large amounts of the injured companies, simulating a commercial activity and thereby evading the control mechanisms and money laundering prevention indicators established in financial entities.
Another of the detainees was responsible for establishing the companies and recruiting the people who were going to be responsible for the bank accounts in exchange for a financial commission, what is known as mules or straw men. When the money swindled from legal companies reached one of these accounts, the economic mule received instructions to dispose of it through cash withdrawals and deliveries to another account or transfers.
The researchers, in addition to detecting economic movements between accounts, have also discovered other methods that the organization used to launder money, such as the purchase of motor vehicles or the simulation of the purchase and sale of a non-existent rural property valued at almost 1,800,000 euros. In the latter case, almost 270,000 euros were paid as a reserve for the property, with the condition that if the rest of the amount that was supposedly worth was not paid, the deposit would be lost and the contract would be terminated. Thus, They managed to introduce the previously defrauded money into the legal circuit.
Operation Doctor-51 has been developed by Team @ and the Economic Crimes Team of the Civil Guard of the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of the Almería Command. The investigation has had the collaboration of Europol and Eurojust. The proceedings and the detainees have been placed at the disposal of the Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 6 of Almería.
