A police spokesman who carried out the crackdown confirmed that hundreds of police officers from the Action Team Against Drugs and Organized Crime (Udyco) and the Action Team Against Economic and Financial Crimes (UDEF) of the Spanish National Police cooperated with the Spanish tax bureau and customs officials, and ***200 people participated in the operation. The investigation focused on criminal activities such as money laundering.
In Cobo Calleja warehouse area in Madrid, one of the centers of this operation, a large-scale raid was launched on some Chinese businessmen and units suspected of committing crimes. Spanish police conducted about 30 searches.
After the arrest, the police will also start checking the bank accounts and financial documents of all the people involved. According to an insider, the search lasted about two hours, and the police took away all the books and computers in the office for further investigation.
It is said that this blow to the Spanish Chinese business community has spread to Barcelona and southern Serbia at the same time, but this is a peripheral clean-up operation. In this operation, other police forces were sent to Andalusia, Canary Islands and Catalonia.
The reporter interviewed two private owners who were randomly selected. One of them said that the tax department mainly checked the rent and utilities for the previous two years, and nothing else. Another private owner, she told reporters that she had never been investigated by the tax bureau before. However, because she runs several companies at the same time, the tax bureau asked her to submit all receipts and expense invoices on the 24th.
It is understood that the joint action of the western police and the tax bureau has caught many Chinese businessmen off guard. This survey covers a wide range, from mobile phone accessories to high-quality imitations of big brands.
The reporter interviewed Mr. Ji, a Spanish Chinese lawyer. On the morning of 25th, Mr Ji was entrusted by the families of Chinese businessmen involved and rushed to the court and police station to defend many Chinese businessmen.
It is reported that the police have made four charges, namely money laundering, tax evasion, forgery of documents and organized crime. As far as the current situation is concerned, the police have obtained some relevant evidence, and the specific case and other charges will not be clear until the end of further investigation.
This action has aroused great concern of overseas Chinese living in the west. After learning the situation, the Madrid China Assistance Center and the security team in the warehouse area communicated with the embassy for the first time. The Embassy informed that it contacted the relevant departments of the Spanish government as soon as it learned the news, and demanded to protect the legitimate rights and interests of China citizens and judicial justice.
The Chinese Help Center in Madrid and the security team in the warehouse area jointly stated that if overseas Chinese need legal advice or language translation services, please contact the center, and the center will try its best to help overseas Chinese defend their rights and solve their difficulties.