Spanish holidays

2016 was supposed to become, according to the idea of Moscow officials, the year of Russian tourism in Spain. On this occasion, they held a ceremony in Madrid in April in Madrid, at which they argued that the flow of Russians on Spanish beaches would increase sharply. However, in the end, Spain visited a third less Russian citizens than even in 2013: it seems that foreign trips are still not affordable for most Russians. But the past year can be completely called the year of Russian crime in Spain - if we keep in mind the number of arrests, criminal cases and trials over immigrants from Russia.

The Spanish criminal chronicle with the participation of Russians concerns mainly "laundering" of money mined in Russia. It begins with the police general of the police Nikolai Aulov. He and another 11 persons were declared on the international wanted list in early May - for the refusal to voluntarily appear before the Spanish justice. All wanted people appear in the business of the entrepreneur Gennady Petrov. The Spaniards consider the latter the "authority" of the so -called Tambov criminal group. Hesus Martin Vasquez , representative of the Spanish Police Union:

- It should be recalled that Mr. Petrov is a member of the famous mafia group. He "washed" in Spain at least 56 million euros, using various criminal schemes for this. It was mainly about the "scrolling" of capital through specially created financial structures - this is a method usually used by the mafia to legalize its money.

As for Aulov, his connections with Petrov are evidenced by telephone conversations recorded by Spanish intelligence services. The Spaniards believe that the general used his official position for illegal enrichment. The application for the international wanted list says that Aulov assisted Petrov’s criminal acts, in particular, protecting him - for rewards - from Russian law enforcement officers. Hesus Martin Vasquez considers Aulov’s case unprecedented, although he and his colleagues have to fight with the so -called “Russian mafia”:

- The Russian Mafia has long settled in Spain. Its main habitat is the Mediterranean coast. There, the mafia has been operating over the past decades and even in some cases was able to enter into confidence in the local administration: it sponsored sports teams, and is engaged in charity work. Well, now we are faced with a sharp activation of mafia structures from Russia - we are talking about their genuine invasion of Spain.

Nikolai Aulov

Another high -profile case on Russian citizens was instituted last June. Then, among others, the Spaniards arrested the chairman of the board of directors of the Moscow First Client Bank Grigory Mukhin. He and five more arrested were accused of "laundering" in Spain more than 60 million euros. For these funds, they allegedly purchased about two hundred real estate objects. The Spaniards also arrested the financial assets of the suspects - one and a half hundred bank accounts. In addition, during their search, more than 100 thousand euros were seized in cash. Says the journalist of the newspaper ABS, author of the book about the Russian Mafia Pablo Mugnos :

- They come to Spain under the guise of businessmen - decent business people - for investing capital and other legal deals. Criminalism - robberies, control over prostitution, and so on - these people, of course, are not engaged in Spain. Our country for them is, first of all, a bridgehead for the "laundering" of capital exported from Russia. Indeed, in recent years, we had excellent conditions for this, especially in the field of real estate. Our legislation in the field of control over the capital was rather mild. Thus, Spain seemed to the Russians a certain financial paradise.

Alexander Romanov

For the "laundering" of the capital, the former director of the Moscow Likemar Plant "Crystal" Alexander Romanov, who lived on the island of Malorca, was convicted. According to Spanish Justice, he operated on the money of the Moscow Tagan organized crime group. Romanova was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison. In addition, the hotel belonging to him costs more than 10 million euros. 10 of its accomplices were also sentenced to different terms and fines. During the investigation, the Spaniards found out that in Russia Romanov, like Gennady Petrov, had a high -ranking “friend” - Alexander Torshin, deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia, and the first deputy head of the Federation Council.

What specific schemes for the "laundering" of money are used by immigrants from Russia? Police Financial Expert Antonio Dupilo Shindreu :

- As a rule, very wealthy persons are engaged in laundering of capital. The goal is the legalization of money received from illegal activity. And not some 100 euros, but many millions. The schemes are simple. It is necessary to create as many fictitious companies as possible and constantly transfer money from one to another. This is done to complicate the work of regulatory authorities that will try to find out the origin of a particular capital when they are invested in a legal business. For example, at first the company in Panama opens. Why in Panama? Because it is an offshore zone that guarantees the secret of investment. For reliability, companies are also created in other offshores, for example, in the Bahamas and in Andorra. And finally, the last stage of “laundering” is the creation of a joint -stock company directly in Spain - to invest “scrolled” through offshore money into a legal business, for example, real estate. It is extremely difficult to detect the origin of money and their genuine owner with this scheme.

Detention of Gennady Petrov in Spain

The investigating bodies of Spain believe that a similar scheme with offshores was used by another person famous in Russia - retired General Viktor Kanaykin, the laureate of the State Prize, and the general director of the Special Neftegaz. A criminal case was also instituted against him last summer in Spain. It is believed that in the Spanish business - mainly in construction - he invested at least 56 million euros. However, Kanaykin, like Auls, was unattainable for the Spanish justice. It is known that Russia does not give out "its" to foreign courts. And for the deeds of the laureate, his alleged dummy person holds an answer - someone Andrei Petrov. The latter, before becoming an “investor”, worked as a bouncer in a disco, fried donuts in the eatery and was engaged in a private car in the Mediterranean town of Lloret de Mar. To arrange your business for stand -up persons, according to Antonio Dupilo Shindreu, one of the techniques of high -ranking Russians:

- In order to hide the owner and complicate the activities of law enforcement agencies, the company is issued in Spain for a stand. Usually we are talking about some inexpensive, ready for all a person who has nothing to lose. He formally becomes the owner of sometimes dozens of enterprises, remaining, of course, at the same time just a dummy.

Spanish investigators and two immigrants from the post -Soviet countries with French passports and surnames converted to the French manner are considered similar to people. We are talking about Robert Gaspara and Robert Mani. They erected a whole cottage village on the southern coast of Spain in the resort of the resort of Marbella, and also financed 25 companies-bookmakers, security and even production companies that prepared television products. The process in the case of laundering millions of euros was supposed to begin in 2016, but it was postponed - for an additional investigation - until March 2017. Investigators claim that the suspects laundered the money of the "Russian mafia", although they refuse to call genuine owners of these funds before the court. In addition, the mayor of the village of Casan, Juan Sanchez, who allocated Gaspar and Mani for bribes for bribes, was involved in the case. A similar fact - the connection of Russian dealers with corrupt power structures - is particularly concerned about the Spanish community. Says a famous lawyer, a former investigator for particularly important matters Balthasar Garson :

- Organized crime, as you know, seized important positions in the world. Criminal organizations have been introduced into legal business and state structures. This phenomenon is accompanied by corruption and degradation of society. The mafia penetrates the structures of the state in order to violate the norms and laws existing in our society.

The case with the mayor of the village of Casares is not the only example of bribing by the Russians of representatives of the local administration. According to the article on corruption, for example, the mayor of Lloret-de-Mar Javier Krypo, who took bribes from Andrei Petrov, was involved in the court.