Marbella police in stolen car network claims

POLICE investigating town
planning corruption in
Marbella have uncovered an
alleged local police scam that
involves changing the paperwork
of stolen top of the range
cars and then selling them at
auction.

Officers from the Anti-Drugs
and Organized Crime (ADOC)
unit of the National Police
claim

more than 400 stolen
cars have been passed on this
way to unsuspecting buyers in
recent years.

Details of the scam were
uncovered during investigations
into Operation Malaya –
a crackdown on town hall
sleaze in the Costa del Sol
resort which has seen more
than 60 people, including former
Marbella mayors, councillors
and local police chiefs,
arrested this year on charges
of bribery and the illegal
granting of building licenses.

Police believe officers of the
Marbella Policia Local
impounded stolen vehicles
and did not notify the legitimate
owners. They then
changed the cars’ registration
and chassis numbers before
selling them at municipal auction.

A Marbella council
spokesman said: “Officers
from the Policia Nacional have
asked to present the documentation
of every car that
has passed through our
municipal garages. They also
want to know who bought the
cars and the names of the local
police officers that initially
impounded the cars.”