- There are 60 families scammed, who came to pay an initial 5,000 euros and between 1,500 and 1,700 a month with the promise of participating in sports competitions. Main photo: EFE
The Spanish Police uncovered a scam against relatives of minors and young foreigners, mainly Brazilians, from whom they required large sums of money with the false promise that they would play elite professional soccer.
As reported by the Police on April 11, there are 60 families defrauded, who came to pay an initial 5,000 euros and between 1,500 and 1,700 monthly with the promise of participating in sports competitions, accommodation, maintenance, study registration and carrying out procedures to obtain residence permits that were never obtained.
The plot was uncovered through two parallel investigations in the first quarter of this year and resulted in the arrest of 11 people and two more investigated, as alleged members of both organizations, two soccer club-schools of youth and senior categories of the city of Granada, in southern Spain.
One of the clubs hosted about 30 young foreigners between the ages of 16 and 23 of different origins, although more Brazilians, and the other about 40, also mostly from Brazil.
How the investigation into this scam began in Spain
The investigation began with a complaint from a player and his coach who claimed to have been signed in their country of origin by one of these schools to participate in official sports competitions.
The family paid the 5,000 euros required by those responsible for the club, but after several months of stay in Granada, they verified that nothing of what was agreed was fulfilled, while the required expenses increased each month, according to the Police.
The investigators discovered the relationship between the two sports clubs involved, whose managers had submitted a multitude of regularization files to the city’s Foreign Office, which were systematically denied due to incomplete documentation or due to late submissions.
The expectations of being professional soccer players ended once the visas or periods of stay as tourists expired, or when the family could not bear the high economic cost required. At that time, the young man returned to his country or remained in an irregular situation in Spain, and he was replaced by another player recruited in the same way.
With information from EFE.