Spain, Germany Police Bust €21M Investor Fraud

Police in Spain and Germany (the BKA) have broken up a criminal group that scammed German investors out of more than €21 million between 2012 and 2019.

The main suspect is a 67-year-old man living in southern Tenerife. He ran several companies involved in real estate development and sales. He used one of these companies to get money from private investors. They signed contracts, believing their money would go towards building a hotel, a conference center, and a parking lot in Constance, Germany.

In 2018, the Swiss financial watchdog (FINMA) stopped his activities after finding he was running illegal banking operations and froze the company's accounts. This meant his German companies ran out of money and stopped the projects they were working on.

Despite this, the suspect still managed to get money illegally. He faked contracts and took over €2 million for himself. He then attracted more than €6 million from new investors, telling them these were safe and very profitable investments.

Because of the huge fraud, German authorities asked the Spanish National Police in Santa Cruz de Tenerife for help. They wanted to find the suspect and his partner, and look into his money and financial dealings in Spain.

The operation ended with the suspect being arrested in Germany at the same time police raided a luxury villa in southern Tenerife. The villa, worth about €2 million, was where he lived with his partner.

During the search, police seized many documents related to the case, computer equipment, and cash. They also froze the suspect's bank accounts in Spain.

The arrested man faces several charges. These include breaking German banking laws by running illegal deposit schemes in at least 748 cases between 2012 and 2019, which caused at least €21 million in losses. He is also charged with fraud as part of a criminal group, involving around €5 million between 2018 and 2019, along with document forgery and breach of trust.