Spanish Police Bust Network Falsifying Sahrawi Documents for Moroccan Migrants

The network allegedly began its activities in Granada in 2017 under the cover of a law firm that had already been investigated for forgery. The head of the firm, a Spanish lawyer, had been arrested and detained, along with one of his employees and several Moroccan citizens linked to the organization as document translators or beneficiaries of nationality or residence permits.

The firm allegedly processed up to 80% of the applications submitted to the administrative bodies in Granada. Its modus operandi was to forge documents to make Moroccans pass as Sahrawis in order to benefit from the advantages granted to the latter, such as the possibility of obtaining Spanish nationality or having civil status documents such as the identity card, passport or family record book. The services were billed between 4,000 and 12,000 euros.

The firm even provided its clients with a receipt to receive a pension from the Ministry of Defense intended for widows and orphans of former Spanish army combatants. This is how the authorities discovered the forgeries and use of forgeries by the alleged beneficiaries of this monthly pension of around 600 euros.

By the end of 2015, the criminal organization would have provided its services to more than 2,000 Moroccans in Granada. All nationalities and residence permits granted on the basis of these forged documents will be simply canceled or revoked.

In total, 18 people have already been arrested in this case, in Granada as well as in Jaén, Málaga, Cádiz, Alicante, Girona and A Coruña. They have been made available to the judicial authority for the purposes of the investigation.