Criminal network that stole high-end vehicles busted with arrests in Alicante and on Costa del Sol

The National Police in Spain have dismantled a criminal network in the provinces of Alicante and Malaga allegedly dedicated to the misappropriation of high-end vehicles, causing financial damage exceeding 400,000 euros. The two detainees, aged 46 and 50, used car trading companies, presenting themselves as intermediaries for the sale of high-end vehicles. Once in their possession, these cars were transferred to third parties without the owner's knowledge and by falsifying the sale and purchase documents, the police said.

The facts investigated in Operation Iris Business II began following a complaint by the manager of a company in the city of Malaga engaged in the purchase and sale of vehicles. In this complaint, he reported that the manager of another company in the same sector, based in Alicante, had committed crimes of misappropriation, false documentation and fraud.

The complainant stated that he had rented a high-end vehicle to this man, which, once the contract had expired, had not been returned. Far from handing over the vehicle and paying the rental fee, the complainant received a call from a third party requesting the original documentation of the car, as they had purchased it from the accused man and needed to carry out the ownership transfer.

During the investigation, police officers found that the accused man had also appropriated a number of vehicles owned by the same company, even changing the ownership of some of them. These vehicles, after a contract had been signed between both parties, were handed over to the accused company so that they could be exhibited and sold on their premises to third parties.

After some time, the complainant became aware that several of them had been sold by the depositing company, so he waited to receive the agreed price for the sale of each vehicle.

However, although the vehicles were sold to several private individuals and the buyers paid the price to the depository company, the company that owned the vehicles did not receive any money for the sale and purchase transactions.

After analysing the facts, the officers determined that the modus operandi of the main suspect was always the same: through his companies, he established the necessary contacts in the automobile trade, offering himself as an intermediary in the purchase and sale of high-end vehicles in exchange for a commission for their sale. Once he had these vehicles, acquired in various destinations, most of them were transferred to third parties without the knowledge of the owner and by falsifying the purchase-sale contracts. Once sold, he appropriated all the money paid for their sale, without providing any amount to their owner as established in the sales commission contract formalised between the two companies.

All this generated financial losses to third parties, buyers who ended up being swindled, losing their money and the vehicle, creating a network of victims around the same vehicle.

The main suspect was arrested for his participation in the offences of misappropriation, forgery and fraud. A woman was also arrested for the same offences, acting as a front for the detainee. Both were charged with eight crimes of misappropriation, 12 crimes of fraud and nine crimes of false documentation involving 20 high-end vehicles. The damage caused exceeds 400,000 euros.

The detainees, following police investigations, have been handed over to the investigating courts in Alicante city.