The National Police has dismantled a document forgery gang in a Torrevieja agency which was being used by people, many originally from Russia, in order to obtain temporary protection for Ukrainian citizens displaced by the war.
According to police sources many of those people using this route were doing so in order that they would not to have to participate in the war being waged by Russia.
Three people have been arrested as responsible for the scheme as well as another 16 who used false documentation to obtain their status as Ukrainian refugees.
According to the Police, the investigation began after they discovered forged documents presented by two cpeople of Russian origin, who were posing as residents of Ukraine to benefit from the temporary protection offered for people displaced by the war in Ukraine.
Initially the agents were able to make 16 arrests for document falsification by citizens from Russia, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova, all of whom had acquired falsified documents for the same purpose including permanent residency cards and marriage certificates.
Later they arrested a woman and two men who ran the Torrevieja agency from which potential clients of this document forgery scheme were contacted, who were charged between 3,000 and 5,000 euros for each document. The three detainees are accused of the crimes of document falsification, illegal immigration and belonging to a criminal group.
In the searches carried out, the agents seized documentation from the detainees, including printing stamps, headed paper, official documents of all kinds from countries such as Russia and Moldova, as well as other equipment including an electronic sealer, a dataphone, two laminators, photographic paper and software all of which was used in the forgery of documents. They also seized 23,500 euros in cash.
The three detainees, the main perpetrators of the plot, were placed at the disposal of the Investigating Court number 3 of Torrevieja. The rest of the detainees were released after making a statement at Torrevieja police station.
The investigation is still open and further arrests are not ruled out as an analysis of the large amount of data, both physical and digital, continues.
