Nine people have been arrested on charges of defrauding the Junta de Andalucia of €480,000 in grants relating to the hiring of disabled staff.
The arrests took place in Elche and Sevilla. A company was set up in Montefrio, Granada province, with grants from the regional and local municipal authorities, the purpose of the company being the manufacture of shoes.
The company obtained grants of €480,000 from the Andalucian Employment Service (SAE) for the hiring of disabled staff. The company hired 47 disabled staff but during the 18 months it existed there was little or no commercial activity.
Two of the detainees were employees of external companies who provided fake invoices to give the appearance that the Montefrio company was actually trading. The Montefrio company even applied for another grant, this time of €1 million, to employ a further 80 disabled workers but by this time they had been rumbled and the request was denied.
The company did actually employ 47 disabled people but an investigation showed that many didn’t actually do any work. They were paid half of their wages in exchange for merely signing their (full) pay slips.
The detainees, four of whom have prior convictions for fraud, are charged with fraud and money laundering.
The Junta de Andalucia wants its €480,000 returned as the company was only in existence for 18 months and a requirement of the grants is that disabled workers be employed for a period of 3 years.