How one organised community of expats is putting El Raso on the map
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The
OLIVE PRESS
SAN JAVIER Mijas Costa
COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA
FREE
Your expat
voice in Spain
Vol. 2 Issue 40 www.theolivepress.es May 20th - June 2nd 2021
Prime suspect
Tragic mystery
Girl power
Bear in the frame for series of grizzly livestock killings in the Pyrenees
The Olive Press helps TV investigation into the death of Kirsty Maxwell
The female warriors who took on Drake’s army - and won!
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I beg your padron Award Winning Rehabilitation Clinic
Are you feeling depressed? Addiction problems? www.villaparadisospain.com
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‘Hellish and humiliating’ as British expats arrested over ‘fraudulent’ residency applications
A GROUP of British expats have been detained by police after their padron certificates proving they lived in Spain appear to have been doctored. At least eight people have been grilled over the town hall registration forms, which were all handled by the same gestor company on the Costa Blanca. National Police confirmed to the Olive Press that detectives are working alongside the Guardia Civil to now investigate all residencia applications in Alicante made in 2021.
Fraud
It comes after ‘widespread fraud’ was allegedly detected in over 22 Britons attempting to become resident here. This week a number of el-
EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade
derly expats described the situation as ‘humiliating’ and ‘hellish’, after they were held for questioning under caution. They told the Olive Press how they were carted to Alicante police station and grilled about falsifying documents submitted with their TIE card applications. “We were wrongly arrested for submitting fake padrons, even though we put the correct ones in with our paperwork for residencia,” said Jay Elliott, 66, of Orihuela Costa, who has lived in Spain for over five years. She and her friend Lily Higgins, 71, had planned for a peaceful retirement in the sun but are now living with the threat of a court case or
HUMILIATED: Lily and Jay were questioned even deportation. “I’ve never been in trouble before but here I am, being treated like a common criminal,” said Higgins. “It’s humiliating.” They added that the same gestor is being investigated for changing the date on at least 22 more British applicants. Another couple, who asked not to be named, told the Olive Press how they had been questioned when they went to collect their TIE cards. “We were taken into a room, read our rights and told to explain why our 2021 padron had been doctored to show a 2020 date - it was hell.” All those detained had used One Way Services, a gestor based in Quesada, near Torrevieja, to process their applications - including the padron. Owner Matt Smith insisted
that his is anything but the only gestor business to be dragged into the investigation “Nobody has been arrested, that is a fact,” he insisted, adding: “Other gestors are also being brought in as part of an ongoing investigation into TIE applications.” A police spokesman told the Olive Press: “All residencia Continues on Page 5