The Organic Unit of the Judicial Police (UOPJ) of the Las Palmas Command has completed Operation Atino on March 28, in which 17 people have been arrested in three provinces (Las Palmas, Ávila and Balearic Islands) for the crimes of fraud, document forgery, membership of a criminal group, money laundering, coercion, prevarication, negotiations prohibited to officials, infidelity in the custody of documents and bribery.
The operation began in November 2015 following a complaint from a citizen, who learned of the development of the "Lindes" operation, communicating to the Civil Guard an attempted usurpation of a property located on the island of Fuerteventura by altering the cadastral ownership.
As a result of the aforementioned complaint, the Heritage Team of the UOPJ began an investigation based on the inspection of cadastral files initiated for the change of cadastral owners of the properties, finding a series of indications based on irregularities committed all of them by the same official of the Cadastre of the Province of Las Palmas.
Procedure and method of action
From the study of the criminal activity of the aforementioned official, the collaboration of a management company directed by another Cadastre official was discovered, but in a situation of leave of absence, and in turn two ramifications – on the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura- of this activity, which acted autonomously.
The main way of acting was the drafting of fraudulent private and notarial purchase-sale documents, in order to seize real estate properties (mostly rustic and also urban) from their legitimate owners to incorporate them into the assets of the members or sell them to third parties. For the selection of properties, it is estimated that the group handled privileged information obtained illegally from cadastral databases.
Among the injured parties located are 23 groups, both institutions and associations (family or private) and 21 individuals or individual persons, not ruling out the Civil Guard that there may be more injured parties given the length of time of the criminal activity, at least since 2005.
First phase of the operation - Fuerteventura
Based on the investigations carried out, on February 14, the exploitation phase of Operation Atino began on the island of Fuerteventura, carrying out a total of six searches, two of them in homes, two others in real estate offices and two others in warehouses related to the detainees.
In this case, 4 members of the plot were arrested, 1 one in the municipality of La Oliva and the rest (3) in the municipality of Puerto del Rosario, as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of fraud, document forgery, membership of a criminal group, money laundering and coercion, seizing probative documentation, computer material, cash (4,000 euros, foreign currency) and two vehicles.
Second phase of the operation in Las Palmas (Cadastre and management)
Continuing with the operation, during the morning of February 22, the Civil Guard searched the office of the Rustic Area of the Cadastre of Las Palmas, proceeding in this case to the arrest of an active Cadastre official. At the same time, a management company located on the same street was searched, leading to the arrest of two of its workers, one of them a Cadastre official on leave of absence and the other a lawyer, as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of fraud, document forgery, membership of a criminal group, prevarication, negotiations prohibited to officials, infidelity in the custody of documents and bribery. In both searches, various probative documents, computer material and three vehicles were seized.
Third phase of exploitation – Lanzarote
Subsequently, the week of March 1, the Civil Guard made 5 arrests, locating one of them in the town of Costa Teguise and the remaining 4 in the town of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, all of them directly related to this type of irregularities on the island of Lanzarote for the crimes of fraud, document forgery, membership of a criminal group and money laundering.
Fourth and last phase of exploitation – Notaries
It began with the arrest of a person on March 15 in the town of Palma de Mallorca for the crimes of fraud, document forgery, membership of a criminal group, related to the Fuerteventura branch which had previously changed its residence.
Subsequently, on March 21, the first notary involved in the plot was arrested in the Province of Ávila, who had previously worked on the island of Fuerteventura. Immediately, on March 23, the Civil Guard arrested the second notary involved in the plot on the island of Lanzarote and finally on March 28, the third arrest was made in the town of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The aforementioned are accused of the alleged authorship of the crimes of fraud, document forgery, membership of a criminal group.
All the detainees (11 men and 6 women) have been released at the disposal of the Judicial Authority.
