Two men have been arrested for scamming Costa Blanca fruit farmers to the tune of €143,000. Tehir modus operandi was to approach respected farmers in towns such as Callosa de Segura and Almoradi, after which they used their influence to reel in new victims.
The alleged scammers would promise payment for fruit -mainly oranges- via checks that would months later turn out to be from closed or empty bank accounts. Guardia Civil in Torrevieja spent over a year tracking down the scammers, which led to the detention of an Italian gentleman in El lido in Almeria Province. Then, a second arrest was made of a Spanish man in the Murcia-Alicante border town of Santomera.
According to theolivepress.es, agents uncovered a stream of money moving across the country, as well as into Europe, with a money laundering investigation still in progress.