Reuters
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 21:42
Spanish police have dismantled a criminal network that defrauded families of missing and dead migrants for years. They asked for money to track down information about their relatives or repatriate their bodies, but it all turned out to be fake.
The police have arrested 14 people in the southern Spanish cities of Almería, Murcía and Jaén. They are suspected of fraud, forgery, bribery and membership of a criminal organization. The police also seized cars and an amount of 70,000 euros in cash.
The scammers approached people in Algeria and Morocco via fake profiles on social media. They offered, for a fee, to locate their relatives who went missing or died during their crossing to Spain. They posed as intermediaries for official bodies that have access to mortuaries and funeral homes.
They also made the families sign illegal contracts to identify and repatriate bodies. They convinced them that there was no other way to get their relative’s body back, and they paid in advance.
Most bodies never found
Every year, tens of thousands of people try to reach Europe from Africa. Many do not survive the dangerous boat journey, and the bodies of most drowning victims are never found, let alone identified. According to aid group Walking Borders, 6,618 people died trying to reach Spain last year. Most deaths occurred on the route from West Africa to the Canary Islands, which fall under Spain.
2024-03-13 20:42:08
#Fraudsters #arrested #milking #families #deceased #refugees
