Nadia McDonald
NATIONAL Police have arrested 145 people who were involved in marriages of convenience and false documents in Seville.
The perpetrators are charged with arranging marriages between foreigners and nationals for remuneration and creating fraudulent employment contracts which amount to some one million euros.
Operation Bisen, which began in 2021, was carried out in two phases.
Firstly in the arrests of a criminal group who are accused of crimes against the rights of foreign citizens, illegal migration, falsification of domestic partners and fraudulent documents within labour contracts. Of those arrested, five women were paid to marry foreign men in order for them to obtain residency permits in Spain.
In phase two, police identified a bogus company which had the capacity to provide 180 phony employment contracts allowing people to seek government benefits, access bank loans and receive state funded medical care. The fake company administrator was arrested alongside 134 others who were alleged workers.
In total €924,000 of public money was defrauded and has already been returned to the relevant administrative body.
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