Alex Trelinski
TWO men have been arrested for scamming small-scale Costa Blanca fruit farmers to the tune of €143,000.
The con involved the duo buttering up a respected farmer in towns such as Callosa de Segura and Almoradi, before using his influence to net new victims.
The alleged scammers would promise payment for fruit – mainly oranges – via checks that would months later turn out to be from closed or empty bank accounts.
Guardia Civil in Torrevieja spent over a year tracking down the scammers, which led to the detention of a 49-year-old Italian in El Jido in Almeria Province.
A second arrest of a 48-year-old Spaniard took place in the Murcia-Alicante border town of Santomera.
Agents uncovered a stream of money moving across the country, as well as into Europe, with a money laundering investigation still in progress.
The Italian man has had his passport seized to stop him fleeing from Spain.
