Britons arrested by serious fraud squad

The Palma fraud squad, in co-operation with their British counterparts, have arrested two British suspects in Calvia accused of having been apparently involved in an estimated £42 million fraud scam in the United Kingdom. According to police sources, 63-year-old James D. and his 34-year-old son Michael Joseph, were arrested on Thursday morning at their home in Calvia in accordance with an international arrest warrant isued by a Crawley judge. It appears that Interpol in Britain issued a search and arrest order for the two men last August and detectives suspected that the two men were somewhere in Spain. It appears that it did not take the Palma serious crime squad too long to locate the Britons. Since the two were located, British and Palma police have been working in co-operation on the case. According to intitial information supplied by Interpol to the chief of Palma police, between October 1995 and January 1999 some £18 million was exchanged into foreign currencies, mainly Dutch florins but including Spanish pesetas. According to the police the money came from drugs dealing and illegal gambling.