Spain uncovers ring of fraudsters behind fake Sephardic citizenship applications

MADRID (JTA) — Spanish police dismantled a major criminal network that allegedly falsified thousands of citizenship applications under the country’s Sephardic nationality law, according to El País newspaper.

The immigration scheme allegedly exploited a 2015 law, dubbed the “Law of Return,” that allows the descendants of Jews expelled in the 1492 Spanish Inquisition to obtain Spanish nationality.

The suspects allegedly submitted thousands of fraudulent genealogical certificates, some of which bore the names of popular singers like Shakira and J Balvin, and charged clients between €6,000 and €8,000 ($7,100 and $9,400) for citizenship applications.

The six suspects, who included three notaries, were arrested in Málaga, a city in southern Spain, this week for the scheme, according to El País.

One suspect believed to be the leader of the operation, who was identified as Y.S., described himself as a representative of Spain’s Sephardic community.

In the alleged scheme, Y.S. would personally certify clients’ supposed Sephardic lineage by copying genealogical data from the internet. Police discovered over 1,200 fake certificates at the home of Y.S.’s associate.

“The scale of this fraud suggests earnings could easily have reached 10 million euros,” or nearly $12 million, an investigator told El País. “They lived lavishly — luxury cars, upscale apartments in Marbella, the high life.”

Since it was launched in 2015, the “Law of Return” has attracted over 88,000 applications. More than 72,000 of the applications have been approved, but roughly 7,000 have been rejected — most of them after 2021, when authorities began rigorously reviewing thousands of suspicious cases after a police report indicated widespread fraud.

In 2021, the Justice Ministry, then led by Pilar Llop, began rejecting thousands of applications after the National Police alerted officials to rampant fraud involving fictitious applicants, falsified genealogical documents, and patterns of fraud involving lawyers, notaries, and intermediaries.

Those involved in the fraud responded by publicly accusing Llop’s department of antisemitism, El País reported.

Amid the sudden spree of rejection in 2021, ministry officials told JTA that the applications were undergoing heightened scrutiny due to fears of fraud, but denied changing the criteria retroactively.

The controversy in Spain echoes similar issues in Portugal, where Rabbi Daniel Litvak of Oporto was arrested in 2022 following investigations into fraudulent citizenship applications linked to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Litvak’s arrest heightened tensions between Portuguese Jewish communities. The community denied any wrongdoing.

Later, a Portuguese appeals court loosened the restrictions on Litvak, allowing him to travel freely while criticizing prosecutors for insufficient evidence against him.

The recent Spanish fraud scheme is currently under investigation by Spain’s National Court, underscoring persistent challenges and sensitivities surrounding Sephardic citizenship laws across Iberia.