The Public Prosecutor’s Office has uncovered a merchants’ fraud scheme from the last decade at the Port of La Luz. In its indictment, which Canarymaritime has accessed, the public entity requests a sentence of three years and five months in prison for two businessmen accused of designing a complex network of shell companies and fake profiles to divert industrial goods from the mainland between 2010 and 2015.
The ‘modus operandi’ of the plot, provisionally classified by the prosecution as a continued crime of fraud, was based on recruiting citizens in extreme economic vulnerability. In exchange for cash payments, these individuals were taken to various notaries in the capital of Gran Canaria to sign the formation of shell companies. The straw men, unaware of the criminal purpose of the network, took on the role of sole administrators of entities designed solely to generate commercial credits that would never be paid. The goods obtained were diverted and hidden in a storage facility located on Los Avellanos Street.
The logistical knot of the port operations was structured through the company Canamar Import Export S.L., formally established before a notary on February 28, 2012. With a declared share capital of 84,000 euros, the company set its fictitious tax domicile on Avenida de los Consignatarios, right in the heart of the Port of La Luz. To reinforce the deception, the network formally positioned citizen B.C.B. as partner and sole administrator. The corporate purpose of the company, wholesale trade in chemicals, household items, stationery, and beverages, served as the perfect cover to gain the trust of national suppliers. Just a few days later, on March 13, 2012, the network activated a bank account at Banco Santander to support its trading operations.
The breakdown of the unpaid debts accumulated under the name of Canamar Import Export S.L. illustrates the impact of the fraud on the industrial fabric. In April 2012, the company obtained supplies from Embalajes Villaverde S.L. valued at 3,545.66 euros that were never paid. In May of the same year, Comercial Fama S.A. suffered an overdraft of 2,150.40 euros. The fraud intensified in June 2012, affecting the logistics of Xtract Logistics S.L. with an outstanding balance of 1,594.27 euros and Comercial Distribuidora del Envase S.L. with 3,235.15 euros. The largest credit reduction within this company was faced by the paper manufacturer Antalis Iberia S.A., with an unpaid item of 7,164.17 euros. Almost all of these commercial losses had to be compensated by the insurer Crédito y Caución.
Canamar Import Export S.L. was just one piece of a machine that included other fictitious brands such as Disathami S.L. — which failed to pay 23,282.40 euros to Stock Plus S.L. and 8,845.20 euros to Bodegas Estraunza S.A., Distribuciones Melián y Estévez S.L., Consumibles Maripino S.L., or Exportaciones Insulares Exporcansa S.L. The latter accumulated unpaid debts to food suppliers and wineries amounting to tens of thousands of euros in the final phase of the scheme in 2015.
Despite the seriousness of the events and the scale of the fraud, the Prosecutor’s Office has proposed a reduction in the request for prison sentences and sets fines at eight months at ten euros per day. This is due to the inclusion in the indictment of the mitigating circumstance of undue delays. The Public Prosecutor acknowledges that the case, initiated by police report in November 2016, suffered a total paralysis during its preliminary phase between the orders issued in July 2018 and August 2024. Regarding civil liability, the prosecution demands that both defendants jointly compensate the insurer Crédito y Caución with 137,230 euros for the indemnities incurred during the fraud.
