The Spanish Police dismantled a cybercrime and money-laundering organization that made €140 million ($160 million) from investment fraud and business email compromise (BEC) attacks.
As part of the law enforcement operation, four people were arrested in Spain, Portugal, and Panama.
The police describe the operation as an industrial-level scheme as it involved at least 800 bank accounts, 120 business accounts, and 67 external accomplices who acted as “money mules.”
“The suspects created and managed a network of more than 800 bank accounts into which they received large amounts of illicit money defrauded from numerous victims,” the police say.
“The funds were immediately dispersed and concealed through another network of bank accounts, creating chains of transactions that placed the criminal proceeds beyond reach and allowed the enormous amounts of stolen money to be hidden and laundered through available mule bank accounts in third countries.”
