35 arrested in marriage scam

A total of 35 have been arrested in connection with fake marriages involving Spanish and Nigerian nationals for the purpose of legalising residence status.

The detainees are charged with fraud, forgery, crimes against the rights of foreign citizens, aiding and abetting and conspiracy. And a few more too.

The police investigation began last May in Mallorca when a large number of church marriages appeared to have taken place between Spanish and Nigerian nationals. Documents from so-called church weddings were used to make entries on the Civil Register and, as a consequence, receive a Family Book.

The network charged around €10,000 to foreigners to legalise their stay in Spain and around €3,000 for a simulated wedding. The network also used cloned credit cards to pay for air and rail fares amongst other things.

The two ringleaders, known as Eddie and Raúl, directed operations on an international scale from their base in Fuenlabrada.

The arrests were carried out in Madrid, Torrejón de Ardoz, Alcalá de Henares, Fuenlabrada, Bilbao, Valencia, Alicante, Pamplona and Salamanca. Fake marriages have been detected in allorca, Sevilla, Jaca, Huelva, Gibraleón, Medina del Campo and Arcos de la Frontera.

Police seized numerous forged passports and other documents in various raids as well as substantial amounts of drugs.

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