Mass arrests in Malaga, Spain, for fraudulent residency applications for British citizens, including criminals

The National Police have arrested 47 people in the Marbella area for scams involving British citizens applying for Spanish residency in 2021 ahead of the Brexit deadline.

Police said there were two separate criminal groups applying for residences at the Málaga immigration office.

Three of the detainees ran a law firm in Malaga and two were behind a law firm in Ceuta.

They have been charged with allowing illegal immigration and forging documents, while the rest of those arrested face forgery charges.

Applicants were charged an average of €1,600 per head to obtain the TIE residence card through the two law firms.

Payments were always made in cash that was not delivered to the offices of law firms.

At least three of the Britons seeking to regularize their presence in Spain were known criminals planning to ‘hide out’ in Malaga province.

The investigations began in April 2021 when the Málaga Immigration Office reported a large volume of residency applications submitted by certain law firms that appeared to have been manipulated to include false information.

The police analyzed more than 200 residence applications of British citizens and discovered fraud in 120 of them.

The scam included bogus leases, health insurance policies, bank statements and invoices that would show that a British citizen was eligible for a residence.

The flood of applications slowed down to the Brexit deadline under the UK Withdrawal Agreement, which meant Britons living in Spain without proper permission could apply for residency before the end of 2021.