Arrests made in alleged fraud scandal involving bogus training programs

Alfonzo Tezanos, who was under investigation for an alleged fraud scheme stemming from training sessions that were charged to the Madrid regional government but were never given, was arrested on Tuesday by police.

Tezanos, a businessman, had been president of the Madrid employers' association CEIM and head of the Chamber of Commerce Training Committee Fedecam before he resigned some weeks ago when his name surfaced in the Aneri case, which involved alleged phony training programs for non-existent students.

About a dozen other suspects were also arrested on Tuesday, including José Luis Aneri, who set up the Sinergia Group, which allegedly received at least €4.4 million from the regional government and €11 million to prepare and give training sessions that were sometimes never held.

Among those detained were Víctor Porta Chacón, Tezano’s brother-in-law, and Aneri’s brother, Joaquín.

José Luis Aneri, who worked as mediator between government agencies and the companies allegedly signing up their workers for the training courses, was arrested on February 28 and is being held in preventive custody.

According to the charges, Aneri used names of different companies to allegedly defraud the regional and central governments.

The police’s economic squad UDEF received a complaint in December 2012 when regional technicians began investigating the business associations that had allegedly benefited from the training programs.