National Police agents in Spain have arrested an Italian national, suspected of several scams and documentary falsehoods, who posed as manager of a famous Italian horticultural company, on behalf of which he bought large amounts of fruit which was left unpaid and which he distributed to buyers in Barcelona.
These fraudulent operations have been estimated at a value of up to 2 million Euro, as reported by the Police Headquarters in Aragon in a press release. The agents are said to be still investigating similar operations occurred in other points of the Spanish geography. The detainee, SD, 44, is now in prison.
The investigation started following a complaint issued by the manager of an agricultural company based in the province of Zaragoza, who reported a series of fraudulent orders for apples totalling 85,000 Euro made through a brokerage company and intended for an Italian importer based in Milan.
The brokerage company, devoted to the import and export of fruits and vegetables, contacted the trading company of the complainant to broker the sale of several truckloads of apples to an alleged buyer located in Milan.
The latter was provided with an Italian phone number and e-mail address from which falsified documentation was sent impersonating an authentic Italian company.
After carrying out the first operations, which resulted in several loads of apples shipped valued at 85,000 Euro, they proceeded to claim payment from the buyer without obtaining a favourable response.
Finally, it was discovered that it was all a scam because, after contacting the true Italian company, they assured to be unaware of what had happened, claiming that someone had used their data and reputation in horticulture to make fraudulent orders.
Later, the police managed to locate the person who was behind the brokerage company, who acted in the municipality of Paterna, in Valencia, while trying to leave no trace of its operations.
Actual destination of the fruit
The apples purchased were loaded, but did not reach Italy; instead, they were deposited in a warehouse in France and subsequently offered to various buyers in Barcelona at a very competitive price, thereby obtaining a significant profit.
Various documents were found during the operation, such as forged papers to convince the complainant that the fruit came from the authentic Italian merchant.
The investigation has been carried out by members of the Economic Crime Group of the Drug and Organised Crime Unit (UDYCO) of the Police in Aragon in partnership with the local police station in Paterna, Valencia.
