Melilla, December 12 (EFE). – The National Police have arrested 12 people in Melilla for suspected forgery of documents and violations of the rights of foreign citizens for perpetrating fictitious de facto unions in notaries in Barcelona to fraudulently obtain residence permits in Spain for citizens of Moroccan origin.
In a press release, police said that the Octopus operation by the Unit Against Immigration and Document Falsity Networks (UCRIF) involved an additional 47 people, against whom search and arrest warrants had been issued due to their unknown whereabouts.
The investigation dates back to May, when police learned of several common law partnerships involving an administrative consultant and two lawyers who were responsible for preparing and submitting files and applications.
People with community citizenship were arrested in Melilla, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Málaga. However, according to police, since the foreigners who applied for legalization were resident in other provinces, the procedures were carried out by notaries in their places of residence, mainly in Barcelona.
The people who established the fictitious connections demanded around 2,000 euros, the 15 false witnesses involved asked for around 500 euros, the rest was left to the aforementioned intermediaries and managers, so that the total amount of payments from the interested parties amounted to amounts between 10,000 and 12,000 euros.
The agents confirmed elements of document forgery both in the notarial documents authorizing the unions, as well as in rental agreements and registry entries for addresses in Catalonia.
This action is part of the immigration brigade’s fight against irregular immigration, in this case from the perspective of fraudulent regularizations through obtaining residence permits on the basis of marital ties or fictitious de facto partnerships.
This type of immigration and fraud is addressed from a preventive perspective, in order to detect sham marriages to obtain residence documents and through the initiation of investigations by the UCRIF in the case of foreigners who have already obtained these permits and for whom there is evidence of falsity, all in close collaboration with the Immigration Office of the Government Delegation in Barcelona. EFE
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