The Civil Guard has arrested three people, including two lawyers, and is investigating another eleven for a network of fraud, forgery and money laundering in Nerja and Almuñécar. Operation 'Donova' uncovered the appropriation of the inheritance of a deceased foreign woman in a care home.
The Civil Guard has arrested three people, including two lawyers from Nerja, and is investigating another eleven in Operation 'Donova', which has uncovered a complex scheme of fraud, document forgery and money laundering. The events focus on the improper appropriation of the inheritance of a foreign woman who died alone in a nursing home, as well as the emptying of the account of a deceased British citizen.
The investigation began after a report from the fraud department of a Spanish bank, which alerted about unauthorized cash withdrawals from the account of an elderly British client. The transactions were made at ATMs in various locations across Spain. Upon further investigation, agents discovered that a lawyer from Nerja was listed as an authorized person on the account, and that the documentation to open it had been forged, stating the account holder as being 20 years younger than their actual age. The true account holder had, in fact, passed away, but the account remained active.
Security cameras at the ATMs allowed for the identification of the lawyer herself and a man, also a lawyer with an office in Nerja, as the individuals withdrawing the money. Both worked in firms specializing in the buying and selling of properties and inheritances of foreign citizens residing in the Axarquía region.
During the analysis of the account, investigators detected the receipt of a substantial inheritance from a foreign woman who had died alone in a nursing home in Nerja. The elderly woman had been admitted at the request of municipal Social Services, and prior to her admission, it was the neighbours who provided her with food and clothing due to her mental health issues. To appropriate the inheritance, the detainees allegedly used a forged holographic will, supposedly handwritten by the deceased, and had witnesses from the criminal group to give it legitimacy.
The scheme included the forgery of a supposed romantic relationship between the deceased and the account holder, also deceased, to justify the inheritance. The legitimate heir of the elderly woman, a son residing in Switzerland with whom she had little contact, was located by the Civil Guard. One of the arrested lawyers contacted him to obtain a power of attorney, supposedly to manage the inheritance, but the son never received any assets, despite knowing that his mother owned an apartment in Nerja. The victim filed a complaint with the Swiss authorities.
Investigators have confirmed the direct involvement of a third person, also a lawyer and a relative of one of the detainees. Over several years, the group allegedly carried out numerous real estate transactions, simulated donations among relatives, fictitious vehicle sales, investment fund contracts, cash withdrawals at ATMs and transfers among their members to give a legal appearance to the funds. The value of the profits obtained exceeds one million euros.
In the seven home searches carried out in Nerja and Almuñécar, agents seized 200,000 euros in cash, jewellery, electronic devices and documentation of the deceased elderly individuals. The investigation remains open to determine if there are more victims or accomplices. The detainees have been placed at the disposal of the judiciary, while the eleven investigated have not been arrested but will have to appear when summoned.
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