The National Police have broken up a criminal organisation dedicated to impersonating people in exams to obtain Spanish nationality. According to a press release, eleven people have been arrested, including one in Ibiza. According to a statement, they are ten men and one woman, aged between 25 and 40, of Nigerian and Guinean origin. The rest of the detainees are in Valencia, Madrid and Murcia. They are accused of falsifying documents and usurping the identity of applicants for the Spanish language proficiency (DELE) and cultural knowledge (CCSE) tests established by the Cervantes Institute.
The investigation began about a year ago, when agents of the Provincial Brigade of Aliens and Borders of Valencia had indications of possible impersonation of students and falsification of identity documents in the tests organized by the Cervantes Institute for the attainment of Spanish nationality. These suspicions led to the arrest of a citizen of Nigerian origin as the alleged perpetrator of a crime of forgery of documents and usurpation of marital status by allegedly impersonating another compatriot as an applicant for the Spanish language test.
Given the hypothesis that there was an organization dedicated to impersonate the identity of the candidates to pass the Spanish language proficiency test (DELE) and the cultural and legal knowledge test (CCSE), necessary to obtain the nationality, the agents continued the investigation to clarify the facts.
They were looking for people with physical resemblance
The National Police explained that as a result of the inquiries, they were able to establish the relationship between six people of different nationalities, mainly from Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Ghana, who were initially in charge of locating people with a physical resemblance to the applicants and sufficient knowledge to pass the tests. Subsequently, they would impersonate the real applicants in order to pass the exams required to obtain Spanish nationality.
Occasionally, the organizers themselves impersonated the identity of the applicantsby providing false or falsified documentation in the applicants’ names or with their own documentation, in both cases impersonating the candidates.
According to the press release, the investigators have been able to confirm up to ten impersonations carried out by the criminal organization, all in exchange for a significant amount of money, which ranged between 400 and 800 euros for each exam.
Forged documents seized
As a result of the investigations, the agents carried out searches in the province of Valencia where several mobile devices, forged passports and false residence permits were seized. In total, eleven arrests have been made -seven in Valencia, two in Madrid, one in Murcia and the one mentioned above in Ibiza-, for the crimes of forgery of documents and usurpation of civil status. Four of the detainees are also charged with the crime of belonging to a criminal group. They have already been brought before the courts.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.