The Guardia Civil has arrested two people in Águilas (Murcia), and investigated four others, for their alleged involvement in a scheme related to fraud in the construction sector worth 300,000 euros, sources from the Benemérita reported in a statement.
Specifically, those arrested are the complainant, aged 43, resident in Águilas and of Ecuadorian nationality, and a second person.
The investigation began at the end of last year, when a man who claimed to be the owner of a construction and renovation company reported having been the victim of threats with a firearm.
In his account, he claimed that one of his clients had come to a building site in the municipality of Cartagena, together with two other armed people, to threaten him with death for an alleged debt.
The Armed Forces began an investigation which led the agents to suspect that the threats never took place. In this way, the focus of attention was focused on the subject himself, who had presented himself as the victim, until it was discovered that there were certain doubts about the operation of the company he was running.
As the investigation progressed, the Civil Guards discovered that there were a significant number of victims, supposedly related to the contracting of the services of this company, who could have been victims of a fraudulent offence.
The information gathered made it possible to determine that this was a company that offered its construction and refurbishment services through a website, where, in addition, photographs of spectacular homes appeared to accredit its recognised solvency and the prestige of the company.
THEY CAUSED DAMAGE AND CONCEALED IT
The modus operandi began with the recruitment of clients with whom the owner agreed a quote. Once the first payment had been made, the work began and the workers, who were later found to have little or no training in bricklaying, entered the scene. They carried out a series of demolitions without maintaining the minimum safety measures and then covered up the damage with plasterboard, pretending that the wall had already been fitted with the contracted installations.
When the owners intended to visit the construction site in question, the alleged ringleader arranged for the presence on the site of the supposed workers who pretended to be a crew carrying out the work diligently.
Meanwhile, even when the work was not on budget, the main ringleader continued to request money from his clients on account of supposed building permits, materials and other expenses derived from the renovation.
When the clients became aware of the scam, even months after the work had begun, the alleged fraudster would denounce them for alleged threats which, according to the investigation, never took place.
The evidence obtained by the investigators has allowed them to establish that this is an alleged criminal organisation that acted systematically with the same ‘modus operandi’, with which, so far, it could have obtained 300,000 euros.
The operation has culminated in the arrest of two people and the investigation of four others, all of them as alleged perpetrators of a continuous fraud offence. The ringleader is also alleged to be the alleged perpetrator of a crime of false denunciation.
The arrested persons and the proceedings have been handed over to the investigating court number 3 of Cartagena.