DOZENS of small investors in Spain were conned out of €7.7 million via a bogus crowdfunding scheme between 2022 and 2024.
Six people have been arrested by the Policia Nacional in A Coruña and Madrid..
A dozen bank accounts have been blocked as well as the seizure of a property worth €60,000.
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Adverts were placed on social media and also inside buildings offering high returns for investing in new restaurants and holiday rental homes.
To lure in and to gain the trust of potential investors, the fraudsters created a bogus business projection with falsified information and unrealistic forecasts.
But the transfers made did not go to the promised investments and, in most instances, projects were abandoned after a few months with the excuse of being a simple business failure.
So far police have found 63 victims but they think that is the tip of iceberg with the real figure thought to be above 800 people.
The criminals also defrauded Social Security out of over €1 million by using front men and deliberately not paying taxes and contributions.
Their scheme included opening over 40 bank accounts and making constant transfers between them to make it difficult to trace all of the illegally-obtained the money.
Everything eventually ended up in an account belonging to the mastermind of the operation.
The Policia Nacional added that their investigation is still active and that further arrests are not ruled out.
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