Spanish bank refuses to investigate 'insurance fraud' targeting Moroccan seasonal workers

Dozens of Moroccan seasonal workers in the strawberry fields in Huelva fell victim to an “insurance fraud” scheme in Spain between 2013 to 2019, after they paid health insurance fees for years without their knowledge.

According to “La Mar de Onoba” magazine, the branch of the “Caixa” Bank in “Huelva” charged fees for the participation of “strawberry workers” in health insurance for seven years without asking for their prior consent, as there are no invoices or documents regarding the contract concluded between the two parties.

The Spanish source explained that the aforementioned bank was charging annual amounts of up to 200 euros per year as an insurance contribution for Moroccan workers.

The last contributions were taken out the year before the COVID-19 outbreak.

The same source highlighted that the Spanish bank did not receive any invoices for the Moroccan workers who did not benefit from the benefits of the insurance policy, noting that most seasonal workers did not know anything about being insured, to begin with.

For its part, the banking institution denied the accusations made in the Spanish magazine, stressing that the insurance amount does not exceed 10% of the workers’ salaries.

The bank refused to open any internal investigation into the issue that sparked widespread controversy in Huelva, according to the same media, who pointed out that the banking institution “ruled out” any misconduct within its regional branch.

The commercial director of banking services for the Spanish Bank stated to the magazine that the published documents are not sufficient to open an internal investigation into this case, noting that the concerned workers can submit official complaints to the bank to claim the amounts in the event of misconduct.

A number of the affected workers told the Spanish magazine that they “signed all the administrative documents that the company requested from them, including those related to opening savings accounts in the bank,” adding that “the company claimed that insurance subscription is a mandatory issue.”

Najat Basit, a former employee of the Atlantic Blue company, told Spanish radio that she had asked the bank to cancel the subscription, and cancel the “illegally” collected installments.

But the bank responded to that by assuring that the sums came as a result of the “contract” concluded between the worker and her employer.