€240,000 in stamps ‘stolen’ from university

A civil servant at the University of Almería has been charged with fraud after auditors found he had spent €240,000 supposedly buying stamps over the last twelve years. The public prosecutor alleges the man was handing in false invoices every fifteen days to justify taking money from petty cash. The invoices were not issued by the state postal service, Correos, but were never questioned by the University accountants. Alarm bells were rung after auditors spotted Continue reading €240,000 in stamps ‘stolen’ from university

Local art and bee-hive fencer caught

The Guardia Civil have arrested a 51 year old man from Almería in Torrevieja accused of selling works of art and bee-hives stolen in the province. This industrious little chap had more than a hundred stolen hives which were found in the garden of his home awaiting sale, and the man has been implicated in the theft of more than 400 stolen hives across the east coast of Spain. The man has also been charged Continue reading Local art and bee-hive fencer caught

75,000 plastic crates pinched

Worth €208,000 it seems. They were taken from a company supply depot in Gador and are used to pack fruit in. Two men have now been taken into custody over the matter – one of the blokes used to work for the firm in question, whilst his mate had a huge truck. It seems these big plastic crates can be melted down and reused, so the couple were flogging them to local recyling companies. Police Continue reading 75,000 plastic crates pinched

Nasty outcome to true love found on dating programme

Juan y Medio is a slightly sinister TV presenter on regional TV Canal Sur. He presents a number of programmes, including one where small children sing and dance for the amusement of OAP’s, but the programme that concerns us is a stupefyingly boring daily afternoon programme called “la tarde aquí y ahora” (the afternoon here and now). In it, Juan y Medio (I understand he was actually born in Almeria but fled the place as Continue reading Nasty outcome to true love found on dating programme

Arrested for stealing 10 tons of lemons

Two men were arrested for driving two vans full of lemons around early one morning recently in Roquetas. Unable to explain what they were up to, the police  decided to nick them and let justice sort it out. The two van had 2,6 tons of freshly picked lemons (someone had been busy). Further investigations revealed that a local farm had lost some 10 tons of lemons in a night, valued at some 8.000 euros. Police Continue reading Arrested for stealing 10 tons of lemons

Almeria dog pound see waves of dog thefts

The municipal dog pound in Almería city has called for help from the townhall after a wave of thefts saw almost two dozen dogs vanish over the last couple of weeks. Occasional thefts of animals from the pound are nothing unusual say the management, but such a massive theft has prompted calls for the townhall to up security measures at the pound. The pound says that it’s not unusual for people to steal dangerous dogs Continue reading Almeria dog pound see waves of dog thefts

Cajamar cashier who stole 154.124€ from clients “almost” sent to jail

A female Cajamar cashier who stole 154.124€ from the accounts of 20 different clients between 2006 and 2010 has been sentenced to 21 months jail for the crime. She’s also been fined 2€ a day for 6 months (errrr….. 365€? That doesn’t seem much). Of course, reading between the lines, if you have a clean record, you don’t normally go to jail if the sentence is under 2 years – it’s usually suspended (except for Continue reading Cajamar cashier who stole 154.124€ from clients “almost” sent to jail

Crucial control equipment stolen from regional firefighting HQ

Staff at the regional HQ of INFOCA arrived to work this Saturday morning to find that crucial equipment had been stolen overnight. Investigations into all of the recent fires in the province have been set back as the data has now vanished. Emergency equipment was lent by Granada and Jaen units to help Almería continue working until it can be replaced.

Vera chap nabbed for pinching 50 KM of irrigation piping

A chappie from Vera, 43 year old J.A.M.C., has had his collar felt by the Guardia after being discovered in possession of 50 KILOMETRES of stolen irrigation piping. J.A.M.C. found the piping unattended on a Cuevas farm over the weekend and loaded it onto the back of his lorry. Well, several lorry loads I should think. He aroused the suspicion the Guardia after he was spotted going round local farms asking if they wanted to Continue reading Vera chap nabbed for pinching 50 KM of irrigation piping