In February 2023 they had defrauded a 92-year-old elderly man from Trento. In recent days they were arrested respectively in Milan and Cassago by the Flying Squad of the Trento Police Headquarters and the Milan and Varese offices on behalf of the Trento Prosecutor’s Office. A 31-year-old Serbian and a 40-year-old Romanian ended up in prison, both with previous convictions for property crimes, who will now have to answer for multiple aggravated theft.
The modus operandi used is similar to scams conventionally known as “rip deals”. The two scammers lured the elderly man by telephone who had published an advert on Subito.it to sell watches and jewellery. The two then reached the man’s home introducing themselves as a wealthy Russian buyer and his Swiss emissary in charge of the negotiations. They thus defined the terms of purchase of the jewels and watches for 65,000 euros to be paid in cash. During the first meeting, the suspects made the victim place the jewels in a sealed envelope countersigned by the parties to make the negotiation credible.
In a second meeting the two gave the victim photocopied 100 euro banknotes, also bearing the facsimile wording, placing two real banknotes above and below the fake wads. However, the elderly man realized that something was wrong and the two quickly and deftly removed the bag of jewels from the kitchen drawer where the man had placed it, walking away, simulating a fake illness of the Russian buyer’s wife, who was left waiting for them in the car. .
Investigations then began, thanks to which one of the suspects was identified. At his house, investigators found a Frank Muller watch, among those stolen in Trento, and photocopied 100 euro banknotes with the same serial number as those used to deceive the elderly man. Subsequent investigations also allowed the accomplice to be identified. The couple, according to investigators, is active in defrauding advertisers on online platforms, including residents across the border. The two deal mainly in luxury goods, such as Ferraris, apartments and fine watches.
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