The Satélite operation, carried out by the National Police in Níjar, in the Spanish province of Almería, has resulted in the arrest of twelve people belonging to a business network that employed workers in an irregular situation through the use of supplanted identities. Nine of the twelve people arrested have been charged with alleged crimes of identity theft and violation of the Aliens Act, while three of them, responsible for the companies, are allegedly accused of document forgery.
The investigation started thanks to a collaboration agreement between the National Police and the Provincial Inspection of Labor and Social Security in Almería, following an inspection carried out on a Níjar-based agricultural company. At first, this led to the arrest of nine people for identity theft and irregular stay in Spanish territory, since they lacked the necessary work and residence permits. The analysis of the information, together with the documentation seized, led the agents to determine that there were fraudulent practices at play.
The arrested, allegedly aware of the lack of the legally-required documents, made use of identity documents belonging to other people who did meet the job's requirements, or who were already registered in the Social Security regime, but who were currently not doing any work, as reported by the Police.
The development of the police investigations led to the arrest of the owner of the farm and of two of his most loyal employees for an alleged crime of document forgery.
Source: sevilla.abc.es
