With help from the German Embassy in Madrid , investigators identified a web of suspects spread among numerous businesses and locations , mainly on Tenerife Island -- one of the largest of the Canary archipelago of seven islands in the Atlantic Ocean . Canary Islands vacation properties are the target of the scam . Police say suspects convinced owners to pay cash for sales that never went through . The German police helps uncover a web of suspects . Twenty - two German suspects , one Polish suspect and one Swiss suspect are arrested .
Canary Islands vacation properties are the target of the scam . Police say suspects convinced owners to pay cash for sales that never went through . The German police helps uncover a web of suspects . Twenty - two German suspects , one Polish suspect and one Swiss suspect are arrested .