At least 50 million euros - this is the amount that investigators estimate to have been involved in the multi-million fraud that led to last Wednesday's police operation in Mallorca. The figurehead for this fraud on the island was a foreign citizen who is unwell, was paid 1,000 euros per month to act as the CEO of a supposedly large international investment company, and knew practically nothing (if anything) about what was going on.
He lives in the Gomila district of Palma. His was one of the properties raided and searched on Wednesday. He is one of a number of people under investigation, but police believe he was unaware of the fraud. Apart from the 1,000 euros a month, it is doubtful that he was a beneficiary. During the search of his property only some 200 euros were found. Moreover, his passport expired three years ago, he didn't use email and he had no bank cards. A businessman who would apparently have been travelling every week, he hadn't left Mallorca for seven years.
Police say that he is an alcoholic and that leaders of the plot got him to give them power of attorney. Various companies in Ireland were opened and closed using his name, but he didn't know about them.
German police have established that there was a close relationship between this individual and the former National Police officer who is also under investigation. In February 2020, Germany requested his extradition. A year ago, Europol agents, accompanied by the Guardia Civil, went to his home in Gomila and verified that his photo on investment websites had been manipulated.
Others under investigation include two Britons who had a business in Puerto Portals that was seemingly used, almost exclusively, to launder large amounts of money. For example, they bought tables for 300 euros each, but in reality these were plastic and with a far lower value. Other prices of this business were equally inflated so as to launder money that came from scamming investors, who were promised a 10% return on assets that did not exist.
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