10 arrested in money laundering triangle

PANAMANIAN security forces and The Spanish Civil Guard have arrested 10 people for money laundering, taking advantage of the exchange subsidy granted by the Venezuelan government for travel abroad.

 As reported by the Spanish police force in operation “scraping”, the officers arrested nine people in Spain and one in Panama and made 10 raids in four Spanish cities (Córdoba, Zaragoza, Malaga and Madrid).
In Panama, according to information provided by the Public Ministry, the operation was conducted by the Special Prosecutor Against Organized Crime, Nahaniel Murgas.
Earlier this year, authorities in Panama informed the Civil Guard that they had detected a criminal organization directed from Spain and devoted to money laundering and falsification of commercial documents.
The organization, which used front men, had created a business network to open numerous bank accounts in order to provide themselves with data phones of Spanish banks later moved to Panama, where the network using a fraud mode known as “scraping cards CADIVI “.
In Venezuela today there are procedures to change bolivars to other international currencies and allowed its citizens to acquire such currency for trips abroad up to the equivalent of $3,000 dollars
For this, the Venezuelan government provides them a card called CADIVI with such credit at a preferential exchange for 6.30 bolivars per dollar, although the black market this change could rise to 600 per dollar.
The network through data phones conducted fictitious transactions, charging expenses to Venezuelans cards.
Thus, the owners of the cards obtained false documents for fictitious return trips, as proof of having traveled abroad, reports La Prensa.
With this operation, both the network and the card owners earned vast profits because, once justified expenses in exchange for a commission, the owner of the CADIVI card could change dollars in the black market.