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CRIME

Spain busts Europe’s most prolific counterfeit money ring

Spanish police said Thursday they had smashed Europe’s largest counterfeit money ring, which made over €8 million in fake cash and specialised in producing bogus €500 banknotes.

Spain busts Europe's most prolific counterfeit money ring
Some of the bills did not have “the holographic patch” that makes it possible to verify their authenticity. Photo: MIGUEL MEDINA /AFP

The gang, based in Spain’s eastern coast, made “high quality” counterfeit €500 bills, they said, adding that 12 people had been arrested.

“This money was allegedly destined to commit different criminal activities, such as the purchase of drugs,” a statement said.

The operation, carried out jointly with Catalan police and Europol, had “dismantled the most important and active laboratory in Europe dedicated to the production of fake €500 bills,” it added.

Among those arrested was the man who allegedly printed the fake bills as well as the main distributors of the counterfeit cash.

Police launched an investigation in 2021 after fake €500 banknotes were found in circulation which were similar to those made by a ring that was dismantled a decade ago in the eastern region of Valencia.

The probe gathered pace after a neighbour of one of the suspected members of the ring found a bag with €4.3 million in fake bills in front of his home near Barcelona, said the head of the counterfeit money unit of Catalonia’s police force, Sergi Sánchez.

Some of the bills did not have “the holographic patch” that makes it possible to verify their authenticity, he told a Madrid news conference where counterfeit bills and seized machinery were displayed.

The purchase of a bicycle with fake €500 notes allowed Catan police to find the suspects.

Jorge Ruiz, a lawyer at the Bank of Spain, said the counterfeit banknotes were of “very high quality” and virtually undetectable to the naked eye.

Three of the arrested met in prison in Valencia, where they planned and perfected their trade.

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CRIME

Convicted rapist Dani Alves leaves Spain jail after posting bail

Convicted rapist and former Brazil international Dani Alves left a prison near Barcelona on Monday after posting the €1 million bail set by a court to ensure his release pending appeal.

Convicted rapist Dani Alves leaves Spain jail after posting bail

The 40-year-old has been in jail since his arrest in January 2023 on suspicion of raping a young woman in the VIP bathroom of a Barcelona nightclub in the early hours of December 31, 2022.

Wearing jeans and a black jacket, his face expressionless, Alves walked out of the Brians 2 prison in San Esteban Sasroviras near Barcelona with his lawyer, AFP correspondents at the scene said.

The former Barcelona player, one of the world’s most decorated footballers, was convicted last month and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail, with his lawyers swiftly moving to file an appeal.

But in a surprise move, the court agreed last Wednesday to conditionally release him in exchange for posting a €1 million ($1.08 million) bail, handing over his Spanish and Brazilian passports, staying in Spain and presenting himself to court every week.

Alves had tried to make bail several times since his arrest but his requests were turned down on the basis he was a flight risk since Brazil does not extradite citizens sentenced in other countries. Alves’ lawyers are seeking his acquittal, and the appeal process could take months to complete

Prosecutors, however, want his prison sentence doubled to nine years. They and the victim’s lawyer Ester Garcia have appealed the decision to grant Alves bail.

“This sends the message that this is justice for the rich, and even if there is a conviction, if you pay bail there are no criminal consequences,” she told reporters last week.

“It’s a very dangerous message for society,” she added, saying her client was “totally outraged, very despondent and very frustrated”.

Brazil’s Lula slams bail deal

The court’s decision to free Alves was also robustly criticised by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

“We cannot stay silent in the face of this injustice,” he said on Thursday, stressing that money “cannot undo the crime that a man commits by raping a woman”.

“When sex is something between two people, it has to be agreed to by both of them,” and if not, that constitutes “a crime”, he said.

During the trial, the victim, who testified behind a screen to protect her identity, said Alves had violently forced her to have sex despite begging him to let her go, causing her “anguish and terror”, according to prosecutors present for her declaration.

Alves’ lawyers had argued the victim had been “glued” to the player while dancing at the nightclub, saying there was “sexual tension” between them. But in its 61-page decision, the court said that did not mean “that she consented to anything that might have subsequently happened”.

Spain’s leftist government passed a new in 2022 that strengthens the country’s penal code against rape by requiring explicit consent for sex acts, a move long demanded by assault survivors and women’s rights groups.

Alves is widely considered one of the greatest defenders of all time, having won 42 trophies. The peak of his career was with Barcelona between 2008 and 2016, alongside Lionel Messi, when he won 23 trophies.

At the time of his arrest, he was contracted to Mexican club Pumas UNAM. He was sacked soon after being detained

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