Fraud gang accused of €400,000 bank scam
Police have dismantled a criminal gang accused of carrying out a sophisticated banking scam that defrauded businesses and financial institutions of more than €400,000 across the Canary Islands and mainland Spain.
Three members of the group have been arrested following an investigation by the National Police, which began in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 2023 after a bank reported suspicious activity involving a payment note that had been stolen and altered.
Investigators soon uncovered a criminal network made up of at least nine people operating in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, as well as in several mainland provinces, including Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Valladolid and Barcelona.
According to police, the group targeted business correspondence by stealing letters from postboxes in industrial estates. These letters often contained payment documents, such as cheques and payment notes, sent by companies to pay invoices to suppliers.
Once the gang had obtained the documents, they allegedly changed them by altering both the payment amounts and the names of the beneficiaries. The altered documents were then deposited into bank accounts controlled by the organisation.
To carry out the fraud, the suspects used 17 forged Spanish identity cards (DNI) to open more than 120 bank accounts. These accounts were used to deposit the fake cheques before the money was withdrawn in cash from ATMs or transferred to other accounts linked to the group.
Police say the scam affected 11 banks and around 20 business owners, causing estimated losses of more than €400,000.
Officers from the specialised financial crime unit (UDEF) in Las Palmas, working together with fraud investigators from the National Police’s central judicial police unit in Madrid, were able to identify several members of the network. Three suspects aged between 45 and 65, all Spanish nationals, were arrested on suspicion of fraud, document forgery, money laundering, revealing confidential information and belonging to a criminal organisation.
As part of the operation, officers also searched a property in the town of Algete near Madrid, where they seized documents and electronic devices believed to be linked to the investigation.
The case is being overseen by Investigating Court Number 7 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and police say the operation remains ongoing, with further arrests not ruled out.
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