The post Spain Busts Gang Using Ukrainian Women to Launder €4.7m via Gambling Sites appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.
Spain’s Policía Nacional and multiple agencies including Interpol have dismantled a Ukrainian crime organization suspected of laundering millions through online gambling platforms by exploiting vulnerable Ukrainian women.
According to Europol, 12 suspects were arrested across the regions of Alicante and Valencia for a scheme believed to have made €4.7m ($5.4m).
Thursday’s arrests came after two years of investigative work revealed how the group forced Ukrainian refugees to open bank accounts which were used “in gaming platforms and to transfer illicit profits.”
Europol stated that the operation identified 55 women victims in Spain and Ukraine. Authorities have also frozen or blocked 153 bank accounts across 11 countries, while seizing nearly €80k ($92k) in cash and €200k ($231k) in crypto during the arrests.
completely controlled by the suspects”
Investigators said that the women affected by war and unsure of their long-term status in Spain “were completely controlled by the suspects.” Gang members escorted the women to Spain to open bank accounts and returned them to Ukraine afterwards. They then used the accounts to get multiple credit cards which they linked to online gambling wallets.
According to Europol, while some of the credit cards were in the names of the Ukrainian women, others were registered using stolen Spanish identities.
Police state they have recovered over 3,000 stolen credit cards and “over 5,000 stolen identities from 17 different nationalities.”
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