Operation “True Justice 6”: the authors of 16 incidents of fraud against the elderly identified in Naples, one arrest and two reports

A Napoli, the military personnel of the Operational and Radiomobile Nucleus of the Osimo Company (AN), together with their colleagues from the Naples – Bagnoli Company, have carried out a precautionary custody order under house arrest, with electronic bracelet, against un twenty years old of Campanian origin, for the crime of continued aggravated fraud, committed against elderly people. In the same criminal proceedings are suspects in a state of freedom two other Neapolitans, of And 28 22 years, with roles as driver or “lookout”, only in some crimes.

The provision, issued by the GIP of the Court of Ancona at the request of the local Public Prosecutor's Office, arose from the outcome of the investigations carried out by the military of the Osimo force, started in June, following a 71 year old woman was scammed which she had been asked for by a self-styled Marshal of the Carabinieri, and had delivered, cash and jewels, for an amount estimated at almost 50.000 €, allegedly necessary for bureaucratic and insurance procedures, for a road accident in which his son was allegedly involved.

Starting from this episode, the investigations have established how the young man, in a time span that goes from the last days of June to the first ten days of August, would have been responsible for a lot of 16 Scams Against Elderly People, mostly women, who lived alone.

The scams, 13 consumed and 3 attempted, have been implemented with the same modus operandi, now sadly known: two or more accomplices, based in Naples, contacted the victims on a landline telephone and, after identifying themselves as Carabinieri Marshals, or as lawyers, managed to convince the victims that they would have to deliver to a colleague, or to an emissary in any case in charge of collection, money or jewels, allegedly necessary for bureaucratic procedures, legal fees or compensation, for road accidents suffered by one of their relatives, which in reality never occurred.

The role of the young man arrested was precisely that of go to the victims' homes and collect the sums of money or jewelry, up to the amount previously agreed upon by the accomplice on the phone. Taking advantage of the vulnerability of the unfortunate, due to his age and the induced state of agitation, had managed to get cash and family gold delivered to him, for an estimated total value of over one hundred thousand euros, moreover not covered by insuranceAll of the crimes occurred in the late morning or early afternoon on weekdays, when older people are most likely to be found alone at home.

They are investigations are still ongoing aimed at identifying the accomplices who were responsible for making the phone calls, always very careful in using different SIM cards every day and registered to non-existent people or completely unconnected to the facts and so skilled as to convince the victims to also provide their mobile phone number, to which another accomplice, on many occasions, made another call, so that, with all the telephone lines busy for a few minutes, any other communication with the outside was impossible for the victims.

for travel from Campania they were used always different vehicles, mostly taken for rent.

The sixteen crimes contested were committed in the regions Marche (on two occasions in Osimo), Veneto (a Verona e Bovolone), Emilia Romagna (a Bank of the Po e voghiera), Toscana (a Viareggio and San Giuliano Terme), Lazio (Rome), Abruzzo (a San Vito Chietino), Campania (a Million and, on two occasions, Caggiano), Basilicata (a Tito and Lauria) to Puglia (a toritto).

Following an attempted scam, at the beginning of July, in Osimo, the young man had been arrested in flagrante delicto precisely from the Carabinieri of the Operational and Radiomobile Nucleus of Osimo: a 59-year-old woman, in the early afternoon, had received a call from the self-styled “Marshal” informing her of an accident in which her husband had been involved, with a request for money to be urgently delivered to the other party. The woman, having become suspicious, while maintaining telephone contact, through her mother, had managed to contact the Carabinieri of the Osimo Company who, in a very short time, had managed to organize a surveillance service and, after having waited for the man who showed up at the home of the injured party, had him arrested.

The Judge for Preliminary Investigations, in the order implementing the precautionary measure, underlined la dangerousness and unscrupulousness of the arrested person, a figure permanently inserted in the criminal context, who, acting with skill, organization and professionalism, together with his accomplices, managed to generate an unbearable state of anxiety in the victims, almost always characterized by a reduced possibility of defense, due to the often advanced age.