Bob James’ Spanish News Headlines – Visual format – Dateline: 01/05/24
More than 100 people have been arrested accused of stealing thousands of euros from WhatsApp users by claiming to be relatives in distress.
Police said those arrested were part of a criminal group that fraudulently received nearly a million euros in total through the scam.
The arrests took place between February and April.
All have been charged with fraud, money laundering and being part of a criminal organisation.
The Guardia Civil said yesterday that transfers induced from victims ranged from €800 to €55,000.
At least 238 victims were identified in the province of Alicante alone. The arrests were made in stages across Alicante, Barcelona, Girona, Madrid, Malaga and Valencia.
The latest arrests come after the Nacional Police announced in January it had apprehended 59 members of a criminal gang which had scammed over 460,000 euros from victims using the same “son in trouble” method.
Former National football coach Vicente del Bosque will lead the government´s commission overseeing the soccer federation after a corruption probe targeted the current and former federation presidents.
The Higher Sports Council created the commission last week in an extraordinary measure for the coming months “in response to the crisis the institution is facing
The addition of Del Bosque may help the image of Spanish soccer after the government expressed concern for the reputational damage to the federation as the country is set to co-host the 2030 men´s World Cup with Portugal and Morocco.
The 73-year-old Del Bosque was Spain’s coach when we the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championship.
The BBVA bank has approached smaller rival Sabadell about a possible merger .. a deal that could create a lender with assets of close to 1 trillion euros.
The talks between the second and fourth-largest banks come almost four years after previous negotiations over a tie-up collapsed. Shares in Sabadell jumped more than 7% on the news, while BBVA’s stock dropped 6.5%.
BBVA said it had appointed advisors and told the chair of Sabadell’s board of directors of its interest in initiating negotiations over a potential merger.
The DGT has announced a special traffic operation to manage the expected 8.4 million trips during today’s May 1st Holiday and the weekend. The operation will continue until midnight on Sunday and will be particularly intense in the Central Zone.
The DGT emphasises the importance of zero distractions, zero alcohol and drugs, adherence to speed limits and the use of mandatory safety systems.
Roadworks will also be suspended to prevent congestion and to improve road safety.
That’s the latest from TRE, I’m Bob James.
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