Two Irishmen have been arrested in La Almunia de Doña Godina (Zaragoza), suspected of carrying out a “tarmac scam.”

A tarmac scam is the following: several people turn up at a building company and introduce themselves as experts in laying tarmac, saying that they have material left over from a previous job.

A deal is struck with the boss of the building company and they begin work immediately laying their tarmac (invariably of poor quality) and demand immediate payment as they are already into the job, even though no contract has been signed nor company details supplied.

In this case the Policía Local received a call on the 30th of April from a forestry warden to say that he was standing next to workers, amongst them two Irishmen, laying tarmac and when he had asked to see their licence for the job, they had refused to show him.

So, the police showed up and spoke with the company boss who said that after he had reached a deal with the Irishmen they had promised to send a pro-forma with their company details etc, but instead they turned up with the tarmac and began laying it.

He saw that not only was the tarmac of poor quality but also the thickness of the layer being laid was insufficient, so he confronted them over this because they were already demanding payment up front; i.e., before the job was completed. He refused and instead reported them to the police.

The municipal police immediately informed the Guardia Civil who turned up and took the two Irish nationals, aged 21 and 26 and residents of Benidorm, to the Civil Guard Post for further investigation.

(News: Zaragoza, Aragón)