Nigel Cranswick, 47, served as a police officer for South Yorkshire Police between 1997 and 2005 when he set up Idea 2 Go Ltd at The Dinnington Business Centre.

He used the business as the front for his VAT scam by claiming that the business had sold more than six million mobile phones and had a turnover of more than £2.4 billion in just eight months.He and five other used details from hijacked or fictitious companies to produce thousands of invoices for sales of mobile phones and computer software, producing billion of pounds in fabricated turnover, which generated around £330million in fraudulent VAT repayments.Cranswick - the ringleader - and his gang invented more than 6,000 fake business transactions in an attempt to make the repayments appear legitimate.But the scam was identified by HM Revenue & Customs officials who noticed alleged sales for more than 50,000 mobile phones which had not been manufactured at that point.Cranswick, of Danby...

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The World Bank today approved $297 million in loans to Morocco to help finance the Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power Plant Project

The World Bank today approved $297 million in loans to Morocco to help finance the Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power Plant Project, taking a historic step toward realizing one of the first large-scale plants of this kind in North Africa to exploit the region's vast solar energy resources. With this approval from the Bank's Board of Executive Directors, Morocco takes the lead with the first project in the low-carbon development plan under the ambitious Middle East and North Africa Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Scale-up Program. A $200 million loan will be provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the part of the Bank that lends to developing country governments, and another $97 million loan will come from the Clean Technology Fund. "The World Bank is proud...

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Suspect for Mazarrón shooting may have escaped from prison

 The man who was arrested for a fatal shooting in Mazarrón on Sunday night, killing one man and seriously injuring a 16 year old boy, was serving time in prison for another crime when it happened. It’s not yet clear if he was out on a pass from the prison or had escaped and was on the run. The news came from the central government delegate for Murcia, Rafael González, on Tuesday, who said that the un-named suspect, a man from Tarragona, will be assessed by a psychiatrist for any mental health problems. It’s understood that the Civil Guard have found the murder weapon and believe the suspect may have had a second gun. A woman he stayed with at a local hotel just hours before the shooting is also under investigation, as is any connection he may have had with the man he killed. The teenager...

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private jets waved through customs and immigration checks

Home Secretary Theresa May (Pic:PA)THERESA May was fighting for her job last night after damning new documents fuelled the scandal of lax security at our borders.Advertisement >>Leaked emails showed that thousands of private jet passengers were allowed into the UK without going through immigration or customs.They also revealed the Home Secretary relaxed checks at airports on at least 2,500 occasions this summer.And the Mirror can reveal passport applications are being secretly subjected to a controversial new “postcode lottery” trial scheme.The High Risk Applications scheme is based on fraud statistics. Staff were given a list of postcodes...

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One dead and another critical after shooting in Mazarrón

 Bolivian man who has not been named died on Sunday night after being shot in the chest in Mazarrón, Murcia, and a second man was seriously injured by a shot to the head. Protección Civil say that local police from Manzarrón managed to arrest the alleged shooter, and the investigation has been passed on to the Guardia Civil under reporting restrictions. It happened in Avenida Constitutción at 11pm when several residents heard the shots and called the emergency services. When the medical units arrived at the scene they could only confirm the death of a man who was lying on the ground after being shot, and then some minutes later and 400m away they found another man, also suffering from gunshot wounds to the head. The second man, who is reported to be a tramp and who met with the shooter...

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THE mother of missing Madeleine McCann said yesterday she still wished she could “stop time”.

03:44 | THE mother of missing Madeleine McCann said yesterday she still wished she could “stop time”. Poignant: Kate McCann Kate McCann, who marked the fourth anniversary of Maddy’s disappearance in May, said she and husband Gerry would not give up on finding their little girl.In a poignant message on the Maddy search website, she wrote: “My grandparents always said the years pass more quickly the older you get. It certainly feels that way. I still dream of being able to stop time.“Our only alternative however is to continue doing as much as we can to the best of our ability to enhance the search for Madeleine. So that is...

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Sarah Harding has completed her 2-month stint in rehab

Sarah Harding's ex Calum Best is glad she got the help she needed  The Girls Aloud star, 29, was treated for alcohol abuse and depression after calling off her engagement to DJ Tom Crane, 31.Sarah and Tom were due to marry next summer after getting engaged this New Year.'They've been in regular contact throughout her time away but only on the phone. They've spoken most days and it seems like they could have a chance of giving it another shot,' a source tells the Sunday Mirror.Sarah's ex Calum Best, 30, is glad that Sarah got professional help.'Everyone has their dark times, but Sarah's strong and will...

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ARRESTED 60-year-old, who is originally from Blackpool, but has been living in the Marbella area of Spain

Armed Naval and Gardai personnel with cocaine which was seized from a yacht off the west coast of Ireland A BLACKPOOL man has been arrested for allegedly being part of a £250m international cocaine smuggling racket. Police, acting under orders from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) – dubbed Britain’s FBI –swooped in the town to capture John Alan Brooks.The 60-year-old, who is originally from Blackpool, but has been living in the Marbella area of Spain, was found at an address in Marton.His arrest comes as part of a major investigation which was launched in 2008 when a 1.5 tonnes shipment of cocaine was seized off the coast of...

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The King of Spain’s son-in-law was at the centre of a corruption storm today as he came under investigation for siphoning off public money.

Inaki Urdangarin - the husband of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia's youngest daughter Infanta Cristina - is suspected of misappropriating cash paid into an NGO.The former handball player now faces a possible interrogation by investigating judge Jose Castro  and risks causing huge embarrassment for the royals.It is claimed that his non-profit company, Instituto Noos, was given an enormous 2.3million euros (just under £2million) by the Balearic Islands’ regional government to organise two conferences on tourism and sport in 2005 and 2006. The judicial investigation is looking into whether the bills for the events were...

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A Romanian man wanted for murder and robbery in Portugal has been arrested in Torre del Mar.

27 year old from Romania escaped to Spain after he was sentenced for the death of a woman who was killed in Portugal in 2005EFE archive Named by El Mundo newspaper as 27 year old Ioan R., he fled to Spain after a Portuguese court sentenced him to 15 and a half years in prison for the death of a woman in 2005. The victim was smothered to death in her bed during the course of a robbery.The wanted man was traced to the Axarquía district of Málaga province and was arrested near a bar in Torre del Mar on November 4. He has now been transferred into the custody of the National Court for extradition to Portugal.Read more: http://www.typic...

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Nigerian scam case deflates in Málaga

 Nilo Case has reached court in Málaga, judging the largest ever swindle carried out mostly by Nigerians who sent out letters to try and capture their victims. Under the scam thousands of letters were sent from Málaga around the world, informing their recipients that they had won a prize in the Spanish lottery, and calling for them to pay a management fee so they could receive their winnings. There are 247 known victims of the fraud from Belgium to Australia and in the United States and even the UAE. The network collected 2.98 million € in ‘management fees’, via phone booth businesses on the Costa del Sol. 168 people from 14 countries were accused in the case, but the procedure was deflated somewhat on the first day on Wednesday when 55 of the accused could not be located by the court...

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The Civil Guard have asked for help from the public in identifying a body

The unidentified man - EFEThe Civil Guard have asked for help from the public in identifying a body which was found floating in the waters of Tarragona Port at the end of October.The deceased is a man aged between 55 and 65, 1.60 metres tall, with short greying hair and a beard. He was wearing blue Lois jeans when he was found, with a white vest, a blue T-shirt with the words ‘Out One Jeans’, a brown ‘North Face’ fleece, and brown Paredes sports shoes.His body was found on October 31 and is thought to have been in the water between 10 and 16 hours.Any member of the public with information on the man’s identity should contact their nearest Civil...

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Hundreds of foreign residents could lose their homes after mortgage scam in Spain

 A group of some twenty foreign residents of the Costa del Sol have denounced a fraud under which they could lose their homes. They have formed a platform to denounce a mortgage fraud which had the objective of getting large amounts of money which was then invested in financial havens such as Luxembourg or the Channel Islands. There were foreign victims, mostly all retired, along the entire Spanish coastline and on the islands, from the Costa del Sol to the Costa Blanca, Baleares and Canaries. The scam was headed by foreign banks and foreign financial advisors, nearly all from Denmark, who had been working for some years in Spain, many without the correct authorisation of the National Commission for Market Values. They told the foreigners purchasing property that they had to get a mortgage...

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Man decapitates his daughter in Girona saying the devil ordered him to kill her

 Latin American man was arrested at his home in Girona on Thursday morning after telephoning emergency services to say he had killed his two year old daughter. His other daughter, aged six, was found with him at the family home on Calle Oviedo unhurt. She is understood to have been watching television when it happened. Her sister’s decapitated body was found lying on the bed when a medical team arrived at the property with police. The father is reported to have claimed that the devil had ordered him to kill h...

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Civil Guard have arrested 18 members of a drugs network which had its main base in Bilbao

Some of the drugs recovered. Photo - Civil GuardThe Civil Guard have arrested 18 members of a drugs network which had its main base in Bilbao and smuggled cocaine into the country from Colombia for sale on the Canary Islands.They used drug mules to bring the cocaine into Spain on regular flights to Madrid, who were often made to practice before the trip by swallowing capsules containing a similar volume of flour. Once in Spain, the cocaine was cut at their base in Bilbao and sent on to the island of La Palma for distribution.The suspects are 14 Colombian citizens, three Spaniards and another from Venezuela. They include six couriers, including...

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Dogs crap can cost a fortune in Marbella municipality

 The fine for not picking up dogs crap is raised in Marbella municipality up to 30.000 Euros. Around the street with lovely Marbella apartments, Marbella villas and property Marbella is it full with dog crap. Marbella municipal leaders want to strengthen measures to remove animal waste from the city streets. Therefore it has been assumed increased fines. . A first-time offense will be punishable by between 75 and 500 Euros in fines. Relapses can lead to penalties of up to 2.000 Euros, while cases that are considered particularly serious will be punished with up to 30.000 Euros in fines. The interesting thing about this is how the Marbella municipality is going get any money from the dog owners who miss behaving mostly are poor low class people with no mon...

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Three brothers from hell

 These are the three brothers from hell -- two killers and one a suspected hitman. Two of the men, Eric and Keith Wilson from Ballyfermot in Dublin, are now suspected of being involved in over ten gun murders between them. Keith Wilson (23) was today beginning a life term in jail for the gangland execution of hitman-for-hire Daniel Gaynor in August, 2010. His brother Eric 'Lucky' Wilson (27) is serving 23 years in a Spanish prison for the murder of British criminal Daniel Smith in a packed bar on the Costa del Sol. Their older brother John (34) was released from garda custody in September after being arrested by officers probing a shooting at the Players Lounge pub in July, 2010, which left three innocent men with serious injuries. John -- who has survived three assassination attempts...

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Farmer dies after being attacked by jabalí

 A farmer has died in Guadassuar, Tous, in Valencia after being attacked by a jabalí wild boar. Reports say the 60 year old man was working in his own orange grove when he was surprised by the beast. Miguel E. suffered injuries in the groin and was found with his blood over his hands and face according to witnesses who said it looked like he tried to defend himself from the attack. It happened last Saturday morning. Tous is a municipality where 90% of the population are hunters and nobody can ever remember anything similar ever happening before. The local police say the victim’s son reported that his father had phoned him on his mobile to say he had been injured, but when a neighbour arrived at the scene he was already dead. Reports indicate that he had earlier suffered a heart a...

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National Police arrest Local Policeman in Marbella

 National police arrested a member of the Marbella Local Police force who was found shoplifting in a local commercial centre on Saturday. The man had tried to take a camera from the store. Municipal sources say the agent has already handed in his plaque and pistol, and is being suspended from his post without pay. Marbella Town Hall said they lamented the incident which they described as ‘totally isolate...

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Juan Antonio Roca, the ex Municipal Real Estate Assessor, at the centre of the allegations, has moved on to the most interesting phase

Juan Antonio Roca - EFE archiveThe Malaya case investigating the widespread corruption in Marbella Town Hall, and with Juan Antonio Roca, the ex Municipal Real Estate Assessor, at the centre of the allegations, has moved on to the most interesting phase, as the Málaga court starts to investigate the bribes.On Monday, some five years and seven months after his arrest, Roca has had to start to respond to the big questions at the centre of the case, the backhanders he allegedly received from real estate promoters in exchange for licences to build outside the PGOU urban plan. More than 50 people including ex Mayors and Roca himself are expected to...

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Three Gibraltar police injured in collision with Guardia Civil boat off Gibraltar

 Three Gibraltar police have been injured after their boat was in collision with a Guardia Civil vessel in the waters off the Rock on Monday night. Spanish media say the collision took place in Spanish waters close to La Línea during a joint chase of drug traffickers who were in an inflatable craft. The fact the Gibraltar and the Spanish authorities were both chasing the drug traffickers showed that in this case there is no talk of any interference having taken place between the two. Spain has repeatedly requested clear protocols to be established to avoid accidents in situations such as this. The three men were injured as a result of the impact between the two boats, and were seriously hurt. All three had fallen into the water and were rescued by the Guardia. One man with a suspected...

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Waiter found guilty of killing Ukrainian call-girl in Mijas

 THE man charged with killing and dismembering a Ukrainian call-girl in Mijas in April last year has been found guilty. The public prosecution was asking for 14 years for manslaughter and five months for desecration of the body. Alla Mefodova, 36, disappeared in Fuengirola, and police only recovered the remains of her hands. DNA tests confirmed they belonged to her. The man confessed that he had been out drinking on the night of April 5, 2010, and enlisted the services of a call-girl who identified herself as Bianca. It was the six calls he made to her phone which led police to him. He told the police they were together at his house for several hours during which they drunk a bottle of whisky and took cocaine. He claimed they began to argue, probably about money. He says that...

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‘Notorious gangster’ shot dead

 man, who police described as a “notorious gangster and shooter,” was shot dead on Tuesday night. David “Pickles” Thomas, 39, was shot once in the face by a gunman at Wharton Street, Laventille. His death pushed the murder toll to 303 for the year compared with 400 for the same period last year. Thomas was the 33th person to be murdered since the state of emergency was declared on August 21. A report said Thomas was liming near a dirt track  around 9 pm when a man accosted him and shot him in the face. Officers of the Homicide Bureau, Port-of-Spain, and Besson Street Police Station responded. He was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Police said Thomas was killed at the same location where gang leader, Anthony “Thirteen” de Vignes,...

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Robert Dawes was finally arrested in Dubai on an international warrant but is now living free on the Costa del Sol.

 For five years a man named in a British court as "the general" has been pursued by detectives in a multimillion-pound operation.Over the past decade Robert Dawes has moved from a two-up, two-down terraced house on an estate outside Nottingham to a base in Dubai and finally to a villa on the Costa del Sol.Police believe he has left a trail of destruction as one of the heads of acrime syndicate that flooded the UK with millions of pounds of cocaine, heroin and cannabis. He has been identified in nine UK investigations involving large scale shipments.Dawes is wanted in the Netherlands in connection with the murder of a teacher, Gerard...

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An alleged high-ranking member of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang (OMCG) has been charged with a revocation of parole warrant

 An alleged high-ranking member of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang (OMCG) has been charged with a revocation of parole warrant by officers from the Gangs Squad’s Strike Force Raptor. Part of Strike Force Raptor’s charter is to monitor members of OMCGs who have been released from Corrective Services custody with parole conditions. Their inquiries led them to a man who had allegedly fled to Queensland. About 6.30pm on Wednesday 2 November 2011, a 41-year-old man was arrested in Tugun, Queensland, by officers from the Queensland Police Service’s Task Force Hydra. He faced Southport Magistrate’s Court yesterday where he was remanded into the custody of Strike Force Raptor officers. He was subsequently taken to Tweed Heads Police Station, in northern NSW, and charged with the revocation...

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Hells Angels held a party in Tallinn last Saturday that climaxed with a fight that broke out between a night club security guard and two Finnish citizens

 motorcycle gang Hells Angels held a party in Tallinn last Saturday that climaxed with a fight that broke out between a night club security guard and two Finnish citizens who were later brought to trial and “essentially thrown out of the country,” as one law enforcement officer put it. Having caused a raucus at the night club, three Hells Angels members had called their friends for help, but police - who had been keeping an eye on their festivities - were standing by and preempted a further conflict, reported ETV. Police say the otherwise peaceful party, attended by Hells Angels members from six countries, is just one sign that motorcycle gangs are expanding to Estonia. A local biker club has been courting the Hells Angels to get full membership. Another local club has already gained...

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