Wine laundering: Spain busts ring that cleaned €3M in email scams
Spanish police and customs arrested nine in a ring that laundered over €3M from BEC and romance scams by buying wine and machinery shipped to Africa. How it worked.
Spain's National Police and the Customs Surveillance Service announced on October 28, 2026 the dismantling of a ring suspected of laundering more than €3 million from online scams against people and companies in Europe, South America and Asia. Nine people were arrested. Part of the money was cleaned by buying Spanish wine, industrial machinery and vehicles shipped to African countries, according to Diario de Alicante. Suspects were not named and are presumed innocent.
How was the network uncovered?
The case began in 2025 with a report from Sepblac, Spain's financial intelligence unit, flagging suspicious flows through “bridge” accounts tied to companies linked to a suspect in Cantabria, per Ifomo. Two arrests came in Torrelavega on August 11; seven more in Madrid, Alicante and Tenerife on October 20–21. Europol and eight European countries took part.
Which scams fed it?
Business email compromise (intercepting company emails to redirect payments), commercial impersonation and romance scams. Victims were in Germany, Finland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, Taiwan and Peru, among others, per The Leader.
How does trade-based laundering with wine work?
- Scam proceeds land in shell companies and money mule accounts.
- Funds are split through circular transfers, foreign remittances and mass ATM withdrawals.
- Exporters buy wine, machinery and vehicles for African markets.
- Wineries were listed as formal exporters at customs, distancing the company that received the dirty money from the shipment.
How companies avoid BEC
- Verify any vendor bank-detail change by calling a number already on file.
- Require dual approval for new payee accounts and large payments.
- Deploy SPF, DKIM and DMARC and MFA on mailboxes.
- Never lend your account for “easy money” — mules can face laundering charges.
See also BEC in the US, AML and the radar.
Source
- Diario de Alicante — Desmantelan una red de blanqueo de ciberestafas con detenciones en Alicante (28/10/2026)
- Ifomo — Desarticulada una red que blanqueó más de tres millones de ciberestafas con vino y maquinaria (28/10/2026)
- The Leader — Alicante arrests as police smash €3 million international cybercrime network (29/10/2026)