The “indulgent life” of the Mallorcan arrested in Taiwan for swindling 50 million with the illegal resale of cars

It expanded its offices in 23 European countries and had a fleet of more than 20,000 rental vehicles. The Mallorcan Salvador Llinàs Oñate founded the company Auto Click in 2014 and, ten years later, he has been arrested in Taiwan accused of an alleged scam of more than 50 million euros that he pocketed after seizing vehicles that he had previously rented to financial entities. and dealers: supposedly, he never returned the passenger cars and ended up reselling them fraudulently, evading nearly 30 million euros to the treasury in the process.

On October 20, Llinàs was arrested at the Taoyuan international airport. Several international arrest warrants were pending against him, including one from Italy, where local investigators accuse him of having rented 1,189 vehicles and then resold them illegally.

In 2019, his company, based in the Majorcan town of Llucmajor, declared bankruptcy, but he had already disappeared. When at the end of 2018 members of the Civil Guard, alerted by the multiple complaints from their creditors, went to the Auto Click headquarters, the offices were empty. Nothing and no one was left in them.

According to the investigations, Llinás had emptied the company’s accounts before fleeing to Taiwan, diverting five million euros to himself for his escape, as local newspapers published this week. Mallorca Diary and Last Hour. On the Chinese island, Llinàs began to launch several companies, including Iberico Food Services Co. and, in July 2021, Mallorca Catering International Co., in charge of operating a Spanish and Italian food restaurant in the Da district. ‘an from Taipei which he called Malavida, operated by chefs from Spain and the United States, according to data from different business files consulted by elDiario.es. “The idea is that every friend who comes here, whether alone or in a group, feels free and comfortable in this environment, chatting and laughing with wine in hand and delicious food on the table… like the indulgent life ”, the place is promoted.

In 2018, however, Llinàs had already promoted the New World Trading company in Taipei, made up of “several like-minded Spaniards” – as advertised on the website – and specialized in the wholesale sale of import and export of automobiles. The same website, 111.com, dedicated to the workplace, highlights that “the office environment is clean and orderly. A cleaning lady cleans it regularly every week. The pantry is equipped with a free-use refrigerator/water dispenser/capsule coffee maker. The work environment at work is free and relaxed and you can chat with colleagues in Spanish every day.”

In Taiwan, while he was on the run, Llinàs launched several companies, including Iberico Food Services Co. and Mallorca Catering International Co., in charge of operating a Spanish and Italian food restaurant in the Da’an district of Taipei. called Malavida, operated by chefs from Spain and the United States

In 2021, the now detained man obtained permanent residency in Taiwan, which facilitated Interpol’s search work. On October 9 of that year, the Trento Prosecutor’s Office requested his indictment and Llinàs assembled an important legal team dedicated to defending against organized crime crimes.

The Italian plot

As reported by the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, Llinàs even resold the vehicles it had in the country to foreign clients who were unaware of the fraud, including a tax evasion of almost 30 million euros allegedly committed between 2017 and 2018 through the sale of rented cars through a dozen merchants distributed in Rome, Trento, Turin, Bari, Siena and Genoa. A macro-operation promoted by the Trento Financial Police focused the spotlight in September 2020 on the international Auto Click scam, with fictitious headquarters in Trento and managed from Mallorca by the island businessman.

Investigators immediately seized up to 800 vehicles valued at more than 14 million euros and prosecuted a total of 14 people allegedly complicit in the events. The Trento Prosecutor’s Office thus demanded the prosecution of Llinás, sole administrator of Auto Click, against whom there was already an arrest warrant issued by an investigative court in Palma, which is processing one of the cases opened against him and in which there are persons about fifty affected.

Llinàs even resold the vehicles it had in Italy to foreign clients who were unaware of the fraud, including a tax evasion of almost 30 million euros allegedly committed between 2017 and 2018 through the sale of rented cars through a dozen companies distributed in Rome, Trento, Turin, Bari and Siena, Genoa

The Taiwanese authorities, through the National Immigration Agency (NIA), agreed to his deportation upon verifying that he was being claimed internationally. After being transferred to Singapore, officials finally denied him entry given the seriousness of the charges against him, relying on article 18 of the Immigration Act, which allows measures to be taken against people who may “jeopardize the interests of national interests, public security, public order or the customs of the State.”

The NIA recommended that, since he has a minor child, he make the necessary arrangements to leave Taiwan in ten days. According to the information released by the Agency, after completing the deportation procedures, Llinás was accompanied by officials from this department to his departure flight, with which, once detained, he was transferred to Germany, whose authorities will decide on his extradition. . He is now in pre-trial detention in Frankfurt.

His father, escaped in Paraguay

The alleged macro-fraud committed by Llinàs adds to the history of family crime. His father, Salvador Llinàs Bauzá, spent 14 years on the run in Paraguay following an 842,000 euro scam committed in Mallorca. At the beginning of 2023, in the Provincial Court of the Balearic Islands, the ‘patriarch’ accepted a sentence of two years and eight months in prison and a fine of 2,160 euros after pleading guilty to a continuing crime of fraud. Initially, the Prosecutor’s Office demanded six years in prison against him.

The alleged fraud committed by Llinàs adds to the history of family crime. His father, Salvador Llinàs Bauzá, spent 14 years on the run in Paraguay following an 842,000 euro scam committed in Mallorca. The ‘patriarch’ accepted a sentence of two years and eight months in prison compared to the six that the Prosecutor’s Office initially claimed against him

The one from Llinàs joins other macro scams committed in recent years. Also in the Balearic Islands, in Eivissa, agents of the National Police arrested a fugitive last February for whom a search warrant had been issued for 19 years for his participation in the theft of more than 72 million dollars in jewelry and diamonds. at Amsterdam airport, which is considered one of the largest robberies perpetrated internationally.

The events took place on February 25, 2005 at Schipol airport (Amsterdam) and caused a great impact, given that, in addition to the magnitude of what was stolen, the perpetrators of the robbery used firearms and exercised great violence against their victims. . The thieves posed as KLM airline workers and, after taking the loot from an armored cargo vehicle on the runway, managed to escape in a van stolen from the same airline.

In a similar scenario, on February 18, 2013, eight men dressed as police officers and armed with machine guns broke into a passenger plane of the Swiss company Helvetic Airways that was about to take off from Brussels airport. They took more than 37 million euros in diamonds, according to the Brussels Prosecutor’s Office and the Antwerp diamond center. A few months later, in May 2013, 31 people related to the events were arrested.