Spanish and Ukrainian law enforcement authorities dismantled a criminal ring that exploited war-displaced Ukrainian women to run an online gambling scheme that laundered nearly €4.75 million in illicit proceeds.

The criminal group was formed amid the war in Ukraine and deliberately targeted young women from areas that were under continuous attack. The criminal network's recruitment cells financed the women's travel to Spain, where the organization kept them under tight control.

After arriving in Spain, the suspects guided the victims through the process of obtaining temporary protection status at official reception centers, then asked them to open bank accounts and credit cards, which the criminals immediately took full control of.

"According to Spanish investigators, the victims were in extremely vulnerable situations in areas heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine and were completely under the control of the suspects," Europol said on Thursday. "Members of the criminal network sent the women to Spain, accompanied them to open bank accounts and returned them to Ukraine shortly afterwards."

The bank accounts were used to feed a highly automated fraud operation that used bot programs to place thousands of simultaneous low-odds bets on online gambling platforms, using the stolen identities of thousands of citizens across 17 nationalities.

According to investigators, the criminals deliberately placed low-odds bets to minimize risk and generate steady, apparently legitimate profits that they could launder.

"The network had developed a fraud system to scam online gaming platforms through multiple accounts with identities stolen from more than 5,000 citizens of 17 different nationalities," the Spanish National Police added.

"The organization recruited highly vulnerable women in areas hit hard by the war in Ukraine and opened bank accounts in their names that they used on gaming platforms to move illicit profits, estimated at 4,750,000 euros."

After a joint investigation with the Ukrainian police that began in October 2023, Spanish authorities arrested 12 suspects and conducted 9 house searches across Alicante and Valencia.

Following searches at nine Spanish addresses and eight Ukrainian properties, they also seized dozens of mobile phones, 20 computers, 22 bots, four high-end vehicles, and 500 SIM cards, froze ten properties valued at over €2 million, and blocked accounts across 11 countries holding more than €470,000.