Arrests in forged transport ticket criminal network

Police in Catalonia, Spain, after a year-long investigation, have arrested ten people involved in a network to forge transport tickets, just as they were preparing to print a million tickets to be used in Barcelona's public transport system. The forged tickets were of a high quality and it is estimated that Barcelona's metro system alone lost at least US$1.6 million due to this scam. Autoridad del Transporte Metropolitano de Barcelona (ATM), the metropolitan transport authority for Barcelona, had already in
March 27, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Police in Catalonia, Spain, after a year-long investigation, have arrested ten people involved in a network to forge transport tickets, just as they were preparing to print a million tickets to be used in Barcelona's public transport system. The forged tickets were of a high quality and it is estimated that Barcelona's metro system alone lost at least US$1.6 million due to this scam.

4417 Autoridad del Transporte Metropolitano de Barcelona (ATM), the metropolitan transport authority for Barcelona, had already installed holograms in tickets in an attempt to combat forgery, but the network was trying to overcome this by importing fake holograms and expanding to other services and other cities. It is also suspected they were looking to expand into France.

The group distributed the forged tickets through stands and kiosks whose owners did not realise they were fakes and through personal contacts.

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