5 chilling details about María Ángeles Molina's fraud scheme

María Ángeles Molina, known as Angi, was implicated in one of the frequently repeated criminal fraud cases in Spain. Netflix's two-episode true crime documentary Angi: Fake Life, True Crime, revisited the case.

In 2008, Angi murdered her long-time coworker Ana Páez in Barcelona, but the murder was just one part of a larger, prepared plan. As investigators soon realized, it was not only an elaborately planned murder, but also one part of a much larger deception.

Investigators revealed the full scope of María Ángeles Molina's crime, which involved a systematic and premeditated scheme of counterfeit documents, identity theft, and fraud for financial gain. Multiple news outlets reported on these findings after the trial.

5 chilling details about María Ángeles Molina's fraud scheme

1) María Ángeles Molina created fake life insurance policies and took out loans in her victims’ names

A still from Angi: Fake Life, True Crime (Image via Netflix)

Between April 2006 and November 2007, María Ángeles Molina received several life insurance policies under Ana Páez’s name using counterfeited documents. These life insurance policies provided large financial beneﬁts due to Ana’s death as reported by Time.

Moreover, Molina used the same fake identity to apply for various loans in addition to the insurance policies. According to Business Insider, this provided insight into her motive for the murder and was part of a long-term plan to access Ana’s money and property.

2) She disguised herself to impersonate Ana and access her finances

María Ángeles Molina not only leveraged paperwork to assume Paez’s identity. She was also a physical impersonator of Páez. Security cameras at a bank in Barcelona captured Molina wearing a wig to withdraw €600 from Ana’s account on the same day of the murder, as per Time.

Business Insider reported that Molina had begun impersonating Ana as early as 2007, performing transactions in her name, and kept the impersonation for several months.

3) She planted semen at the crime scene to fake a sexual assault

María Ángeles Molina manipulated the crime scene to throw the investigation off-course by making it appear to be a s*x crime. According to Time and Business Insider, she had visited a male brothel in Barcelona and paid for semen samples from two s*x workers she had hired.

Then she planted this semen at the scene where Ana Páez's body was discovered. The man who worked there testified during the trial that Molina was claiming to him that she had made a bet and stated she did not want to have s*xual intercourse, as per Business Insider. That evidence was planned to obscure the actual crime, which was financial fraud.

An imagery crime scene (Image via Pexels)

4) She hid incriminating evidence inside her home

Ana Páez's passport and personal documents were stuffed behind the water tank of a bathroom at Molina's house. Also recovered was a sealed bottle of chloroform that confirmed that the victim had indeed been drugged before being suffocated.

As noted by Business Insider at the time, Molina's boyfriend turned over all of that evidence to the police. All of this helped prove that the murder showed premeditation and further connected Molina to the fraud as well as the murder.

5) She was arrested again in 2025 for allegedly planning a second homicide

In 2012, Molina was sentenced to 22 years in prison (later reduced to 18), and even while incarcerated, she continued to express concern. In March 2025, she was once again arrested in a temporary release from Mas d'Enric prison, as reported by Business Insider.

Prosecutors claimed that she plotted another homicide from prison and was going to hire a hitman; the identity of the victim was never revealed. Molina refused to testify in the case.

Angi: Fake Life, True Crime can be streamed on Netflix.

About the author

Preethika Vijayakumar is an Entertainment writer at Sportskeeda with a keen interest in pop culture. Although a law student, her curiosity about the world and passion for writing inspired her to explore and analyze the complex narrative and diverse character arcs that define the daily soaps.

With experience as a legal content writer, Preethika also achieved a notable accomplishment as her work was published in a book about criminology and victimology. As a fellow binge-watcher, Preethika aims to provide insightful analysis based on her firsthand viewing experiences, ensuring accuracy and relevance in her writing.

Outside of professional endeavors, she enjoys reading, playing guitar, and creating ceramics. Her favorite celebrity is Jensen Ackles, and if given the opportunity, Preethika would love to be a part of his show, Supernatural, although she isn’t sure she could last until the end.

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Edited by Riya Peter