Tenerife Court Increases Prison Sentence for Fraud Ring Leader

The Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has increased the prison sentence for the leader of a document forgery and fraud ring from two years to two and a half years. The court revoked the suspension of his original sentence, ruling that the money he repaid was not enough to qualify for a lighter penalty that would have kept him out of prison.

The leader had repaid 3,900 euros of the nearly 13,000 euros stolen from at least 16 identified victims. The court found this amount insufficient to cover the damage caused. Furthermore, the defendant’s sentence was increased due to his history of reoffending, as he has received three additional convictions since the crimes took place between 2016 and 2019.

The criminal group operated by exploiting people's trust in public institutions. The ringleader posed as an intermediary with special access to the Provincial Traffic Headquarters and immigration offices, promising victims residence permits and temporary driving licenses. To make the scam appear legitimate, he worked with an accomplice who created forged documents at home and managed appointments on official websites to hide the fraud.

Although the forged documents were poor quality—often missing official seals, security features, and containing typos—the group charged victims between 300 and 3,600 euros per transaction. A third member of the group, who recruited clients, received a sentence of ten months and fifteen days; he was granted a lighter penalty because he returned some of the money to the victims.

Police raids in Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria uncovered forged documents linked to nearly 80 people, suggesting the true number of victims may be much higher. The court confirmed that the group had no real connections to government agencies and relied entirely on lies and fake excuses to delay the delivery of the promised permits.