Fraud in Social Security and illegal immigration. The National Police are focusing on these two crimes in the province of Alicante since they are becoming more common. So, they think that “there will be more arrests.”
But how do the two come together? The Alicante Unit Against Immigration and Document Forgery Networks has found that more invitation letters are being sent out so that people can get free healthcare in Spain, even if they know they will be staying longer.
A source said the problem they face is complicated because both crimes need proof of intent. It is lawful to send out invitation letters, just like it is permissible to have universal healthcare.
When invitation letters are used to exploit universal healthcare, problems arise. And last week, an example that was made public shows that. A 44-year-old man from Spain has been detained for encouraging illegal immigration after registering his parents as Venezuelans.
These had come by way of the invitation letter. This model allows foreigners to visit Spain “for tourism or private purposes” and “with the promise to pay for all of the beneficiary’s expenses while they are there.”
This stay can only last for 90 days. This time is not meant for medical care. The Generalitat (the Catalan government) says that “foreigners with a residence permit must have public or private health insurance, contracted in Spain or another country, that covers them while they are in Spain.”
The case of the man apprehended by the UCRIF team at the Alicante Provincial Police Station shows how some people use this system to break the law.
People say that this individual asked for these two letters with the explicit goal of making sure they stayed in Spain for good and didn’t leave after three months. They said that the proof is that the suspect had turned in his registration and that of his Venezuelan parents.
The officers checked to see if the suspect’s parents had left Spain by the deadline. Since they hadn’t, they were in an illegal situation. This meant that the Immigration Law had been broken in a big way.
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As they point out, it is there that the person who was detained had committed the crime of aiding and abetting illegal immigration by allowing it to happen and helping it happen.
They stress that Social Security fraud is also a felony. Why is he being accused of this? In this case, the man who was detained had his mother registered at his home address. She was able to apply for a health card because of this. And with that, she could start medical care that was expected to cost nine thousand euros.
The imprisoned man had also asked for two invitation letters for his two sisters, which he was able to do without any trouble. According to the UCRIF, this action shows that he wanted both of them to move to Spain and live in Alicante.
According to the sources of the investigation, the parents are being charged with an administrative offence for staying longer than they were supposed to. The son, on the other hand, has to go to court for the crime of encouraging illegal immigration. The probe is also looking into whether the son told the mother to get treatment in Spain, where it would be free.
Author: Derek Appleton
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