The newspaper “THE OBJECTIVE” revealed the expansion of judicial investigations into the case of an illegal Schengen visa trafficking network within the Spanish consulate in Algeria, to include three new employees, whom it described as belonging to the “inner circle of the consul”.
According to the report by the Spanish newspaper, Judge Maria Tardon notified the three new employees of their status under investigation, on suspicion of their connection to the case that erupted following the arrest of the former second-in-command at the consulate, Vicente Moreno, and a local employee last April.
The case centers on suspicions of facilitating the granting of Schengen visas in exchange for sums of money that reached, according to data in the investigation, 25,000 euros per family, with suspicions of using documents that did not meet requirements or were forged, as well as laundering part of the financial proceeds through the purchase of properties and cars.
This concerns Maua Belkacemi, the current secretary to the Consul Gauden Villas, along with administrative staff Hocine Malek and Lylia Dricy, who are responsible for processing visa files. The case also includes the former administrative counselor Vicente Moreno, and local employee Mohamed Boutouchent, in addition to Moreno’s wife Amina Nesrine Belguedi.
The investigations also extended to the Indian company BLS, responsible for managing visa appointments, amid suspicions regarding the role of some intermediary parties in facilitating the preparation of files and selecting beneficiaries who paid the required amounts.
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs had dispatched an inspection committee to the consulate in Algeria to review the workflow and hear from employees, while the Spanish National Court continues to investigate suspicions of money laundering, forgery, influence peddling, and belonging to a criminal organization.
It is worth noting that the consul’s secretary admitted, in her testimony before the Spanish judiciary, to transferring a total amount of 34,813 euros to Algeria during the period from early 2022 to March 2026, with the aim of converting it into Algerian Dinars in the parallel market with the help of her partner, according to what the same newspaper reported in an investigation published on November 10, 2026.
