Alex Trelinski
A gang defrauded Spanish car rental companies by hiring vehicles and then leasing them out to criminals who wanted to stay anonymous.
12 people have been arrested by the Policia Nacional over the scam that operated in the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, Murcia, and Madrid areas.
Four addresses were raided with jewellery and watches worth over €1 million seized along with €150,000 in cash plus documents and a revolver.
The gang’s activities were exposed when Malaga’s Policia Local stopped a hire car which they suspected had been misappropriated.
The passengers had nearly €100,000 on them which they could not explain where it came from.
The Policia Nacional launched a probe to find out where the money came from.
During ‘Operation Solid’, they uncovered a Spanish-wide network where the same people kept hiring cars online.
The gang then charged substantial fees to fellow criminals to use the vehicles on an illegal ‘sub-lease’ basis.
No details have been released of how many cars had been ‘leased’ by the gang.
READ MORE BRITISH MARIJUANA TRAFFICKERS USED RENTAL CARS IN MARBELLA AREA
