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29 March 2024

Spanish police smash high-flying ‘fake sheikh’ gang

Published
By Reuters

Spanish police have unmasked a gang of alleged fraudsters posing as representatives of Arab sheikhs, who promised millions of euros of investment or loans to victims that included Spanish football club Getafe, authorities said on Wednesday.

Six Spaniards and a man from the Dominican Republic have been taken into custody as part of ‘Operation Flame’ and the group are accused of crimes including fraud and embezzlement, police in the Catalan capital Barcelona said in a statement.

The gang allegedly promised Getafe president Angel Torres a cash injection of €10 million as long as the La Liga club maintained their top-flight status and were debt-free, the statement said.

In return, the club was required to transfer funds as a guarantee of solvency to an account controlled by the alleged fraudsters but Torres broke off contact with the group when two cheques they had written bounced.

Police said they had questioned a total of 12 people as part of the investigation and did not rule out uncovering more victims and making more arrests in coming days.