Luis F. Durán Madrid
Madrid
Updated Friday, March 8, 2024-01:53
A cryptocurrency buying and selling operation in a tourist apartment on Atocha Street (Madrid) ended last Wednesday with two detainees by the Municipal Police after paying for this digital currency with 70,000 euros in counterfeit bills.
In addition,
those arrested were injured in the fight that arose from the transaction
and the property's portal ended up with shattered windows.
The Municipal Police officers from the Central South Madrid Comprehensive Police Station were first called in for a very violent brawl that was taking place between three people at number 90 Atocha Street.
Upon the arrival of the police vehicle, the uniformed officers observed how two men ran away and bleeding, so they proceeded to chase them on foot until they caught up with them and arrested them.
There was a third person, according to witnesses, who had left behind these two individuals and who could also have escaped through a rear window or door.
At the same time, the agents located the other person involved in the scuffle on a floor of the block.
This was, supposedly, the victim of this business of buying and selling these digital assets.
This man told them that inside the house they had agreed to sell cryptocurrencies and that
the buyers had come to the house carrying a bag with 130,000 euros in cash in 200-euro bills.
The beginning of the incidents occurred when the seller of the cryptocurrencies, with a history of robbery with force, began to review and count the money, realizing that 60,000 euros were legal tender bills, but that
another 70,000 euros were counterfeit, and also with a crude imitation.
Upon realizing the scam, an argument began that led to an attack inside the tourist apartment of a well-known digital apartment rental platform.
The two men ran out of the house pursued by the victim and another exchange of blows took place in the doorway that ended with several broken windows and blood stains.
The Municipal Police ended up arresting the two men who were carrying the counterfeit money for counterfeiting currency.
Agents from the National Police also went to the site and requested a court order to enter and search the apartment, which was denied by the Investigative Court on duty in Plaza Castilla, so the Municipal and National Police waited until yesterday, Thursday, around 1:00 p.m. to
be able to enter and search the apartment
when the individuals' accommodation contract ended.
The two detainees had several injuries as a result of the blows received in the brawl, and one of them had a broken knee.
Both indicated that
the seller was accompanied by two other people who began to beat them
when they realized that part of the money was fake.
The agents continue with the investigations into this operation
and the origin of the deceptive money.
Counterfeiting currency and stamped bills is a serious crime that the Penal Code punishes with sentences of eight to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to 10 times the apparent value of the counterfeit currency, and
the crime of fraud is punishable by a imprisonment of up to three years.