A Mole, Two Workshops, and €50,000 in Stolen Parts: How a Benidorm Spare Parts Company Was Bled Dry

On the surface, everything seemed to be running smoothly. Budgets processed, warehouse organised, car parts coming and going. But for some time, something wasn't adding up in the numbers of a spare parts company located in Cala de Finestrat, Benidorm. The discrepancy was constant, and the accounts didn't lie: material was missing. A lot. Up to €50,000 worth of goods that were never sold, yet were no longer on the shelves.

The source of the bleeding was internal. A mole within the company, an employee who, without raising suspicion, operated behind his bosses' backs to empty the warehouse piece by piece. He did it with surgical precision and external help. The National Police have already arrested the three involved: the disloyal employee and two men, both regular customers and owners of mechanical workshops in the area, who became his accomplices to execute the plan.

The method was as rudimentary as it was effective. The alleged criminal received requests disguised as legitimate budgets. His two partners, on the other side of the scheme, provided references for specific parts, which he located in the warehouse. Once separated, the next step was crucial: they exited through the back door of the establishment and ended up hidden inside a strategically placed container outside the premises. Shortly after, one of the implicated workshops sent a car to collect the material. No invoices, no delivery notes, leaving no trace.

For weeks, this operation was repeated in a loop. According to this outlet, the worker even used the computer access codes of other colleagues—without their knowledge—to manipulate the system and divert inventory queries, making it even more difficult to detect the fraud from within.

The investigation began after the company's director reported the significant inventory discrepancy. The first finding came after an internal audit: most of the stolen parts matched a common pattern. They always left from the same point, and always with the same person in charge.

The alert activated the National Police, who deployed a discreet surveillance operation around the establishment. It didn't take long to confirm the suspicions. Officers observed how the worker deposited items in the outside container, and how minutes later a vehicle—occupied by the two suspicious customers—came to collect them with complete normality.

With the evidence in hand, investigators proceeded to arrest the three individuals, aged 34, 36, and 38. They are charged with embezzlement, and the case is now in the hands of the Benidorm magistrate's court.

The affected company estimates the damage at around €50,000 in merchandise, although it is not ruled out that the figure may increase once the inventory analysis is completed and the movements of recent months are reviewed.

In the case of the embezzlement in the Benidorm company, the blow was not immediate, but methodical. A constant drip that eventually created a considerable hole. And all under the radar of a company that took months to realise it was being bled dry from within.