A SCAM defrauded authorities out of €20 million in VAT on mobile phone sales across Spain.

Proceeds were laundered mainly through real estate purchases.

146 properties have been impounded and over 280 bank accounts used to launder the unpaid tax have been blocked.

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A joint operation between the Guardia Civil and the Tax Agency has led to 15 arrests of people involved in the long-running con since 2019.

The gang set up a business network around Spain with 20 companies that included mobile phone shops which evaded paying VAT.

23 addresses were raided resulting in five arrests in both the Malaga and Valencia areas, two in Madrid, and one each in Barcelona, Cadiz, and Sevilla.

Officers seized 9,000 mobile phones, more than €200,000 in cash, 35,500 US dollars in cryptocurrencies and 75 vehicles.

Phones were imported or bought in bulk from large stores when promotions were being offered.

The gang then set up a complex resales process which meant it was difficult for authorities to trace the items and work out what tax was owed.

Bogus parcels that were marked as containing mobile phones, actually consisted of wood or bottles of water at the same declared weight to confuse investigators.

The phone units were sold as ‘refurbished’ to buyers in Spain and across Europe via online platforms.

The low prices offered allowed them to undercut legitimate competitors

By Jon Clarke in Praia da Luz

DETECTIVES searching for remains of missing Madeleine McCann found two buried guns in Portugal last week.

The Olive Press can reveal that the firearms have now been sent back to Germany for analysis, as well as various bones and clothing.

While the bones are said to be from animals, there are some smaller fragments which will also be analysed by forensic experts.

The urgent three-day search near Praia da Luz, came as German detectives leading the case fear that their prime suspect Christian Brueckner, 48, may walk free from prison in September.

The convicted paedophile – who is nearing the end of a seven year sentence for the rape of an American pensioner in Portugal – was said to have carried a gun when he lived on the Algarve between 1995 and 2007.

Neighbours where Brueckner lived in the inland village of Foral told the Olive Press he was ‘often seen’ walking around with a gun.

Detectives also unearthed two more guns at a property owned by the sex offender in Neuwegersleben, in 2016. During the search in Lower Saxony they also found a series of memory sticks and hard drives buried in a bag under the dead body of his dog, Charlie.

As well as countless child abuse images, they also included many sick child rape and kidnap stories Brueckner had allegedly penned.

According to The Sun, police also found more than 70 children’s swimsuits, a toddler’s bike and masks.

German cops meanwhile, had planned to search the ruined properties in the hamlet of Aldeia, between Praia da Luz and Lagos, soon after a related search at nearby Arade lake in 2023, but could not get permission.

Despite registering 21 separate plots to search, in the end the 30 BKA detectives and a similar number of Portuguese cops scoured just half a dozen ruins.

“In total we found two guns, but we don’t know if they are related to Christian Brueckner or his offences,” revealed a source close to the Portuguese probe.

“We’ve been told very little. but we also found a number of bones, most likely not human, and some bone fragments, all sent to Germany, where a forensic check will be undertaken by specialists.

“The textiles and clothes found were adult size and there were no obvious signs of any link to Brueckner.”

The search had particularly pinpointed a place where Brueckner had wild-camped alongside his yellow and white VW van near Praia da Luz, when Madeleine, 3, was snatched from her holiday home in May, 2007.

“The Germans were very specific about where they wanted to look and we only knew exactly late on,” added the source.

“They say they have more places they want to search. We have no idea when. We just made sure they got what they needed this time.”

A detective who worked alongside the McCann family to find their daughter in the summer of 2007 told the Olive Press police were in the ‘exact right spot to find her’.

Danie Krugel said: “I’ve been telling police they need to be searching that area for years. Thank god they are finally there.”

The Olive Press was the first media group to be on the ground when the search area was set up on Monday last week.

We have reported the case since it broke in 2007 and were the first in Portugal after Brueckner was named as the prime suspect in June, 2020.

Neither German or Portuguese police have officially commented on the findings of the recent search, although a Policia Judiciaria spokesman has denied police found guns during the search, and confirmed it was ‘99% certain’ the bones were all from animals.

Please sent comments to newsdesk@theolivepress.es

A BRITISH man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting his 16-year-old girlfriend in a Magaluf street during the early hours of Monday morning.

He is also accused of attacking a female ‘Good Samaritan’ who tried to stop him.

The Ultima Hora newspaper reported that the 25-year-old Brit appeared in a Palma court later on Monday and was released.

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The couple jetted into Mallorca on Saturday for a mini-break with plans to fly back to England on Thursday.

The teenage victim admitted to the Guardia Civil that her parents did not know that she gone on holiday with her boyfriend.

The incident happened at around 3.50am on Calle Martin Ros Garcia off Magaluf’s Punta Ballena strip.

Two women walking in the area saw the man hit his girlfriend, 16, on the head.

The witnesses intervened and one of them got punched into the bargain.

The couple departed but the women spoke to Guardia Civil officers about the incident and also pointed out the direction they had gone in.

They were both found on the terrace of a hotel on Calle Torrenova and were interviewed separately.

The teenager confirmed she was on holiday with her boyfriend but denied any assault took place.

When asked about blood spotted on her arm, she said it came from an old injury.

She said she did not want to report the boyfriend, but she did go to a medical centre for treatment to a bruise on her forehead.

The assaulted ‘Good Samaritan’ did make a report though ahead of Monday’s Palma hearing.