Naples: The Carabinieri of Osimo arrest, on a custodial order, two people for fraud against the elderly.  

In Naples, the military personnel of the Operational and Radiomobile Nucleus of the Osimo Company (AN), together with their colleagues from the Naples – Centro and Naples – Bagnoli Companies, executed a custodial order against a thirty-eight-year-old and a forty-five-year-old, both originally from Campania, for the crime of aggravated and continued fraud, committed against elderly people.

Both of the arrested, already known to the police, after being photographed, were taken to the Naples “Poggioreale” prison.

The provision, issued by the GIP of the Court of Ancona at the request of the local Public Prosecutor's Office, arose from the investigations carried out by the military of the Osimo Arma, started in November 2023, following a scam suffered by an 83-year-old woman who had been asked for, and had delivered, jewelry worth 500 euros, allegedly necessary to pay an administrative fine for a traffic violation committed by her nephew.
Starting from this episode, the investigations highlighted how the two accomplices, starting from the first days of November 2023 and in just four months, had been responsible for as many as forty scams against elderly people, mainly women who lived alone.

The scams, 37 consummated and 3 attempted, were carried out with the same modus operandi, now sadly known: an accomplice, based in Naples, contacted the victims on a landline telephone and, after identifying himself as a Marshal of the Carabinieri, a Finance Policeman, or as an employee of a post office, managed to convince the victims that they would have to give a colleague money or jewelry, 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 two people arrested was precisely that of going to the women's homes and withdrawing sums of money or jewels, up to the value of the sum previously agreed upon by the accomplice on the phone. While one of the two acted as driver and "poster", the other physically took care of the collection, and then disappeared.

Investigations are still underway to identify the accomplices who were responsible for making the phone calls, always very careful in using different SIM cards every day and registered in the name of non-existent people or people completely unrelated to the facts and so skilled as to convince the victims to also provide the mobile phone number, on which another accomplice, on many occasions, made another call, in such a way that, with all the telephone numbers occupied, for a few minutes, any other communication with the outside world was impossible for the victims .

The amount of the sums unduly stolen is, overall, around the euro 200.000 and is not covered by insurance. For the trips from Campania, different vehicles were used, mostly high-powered rental cars.

The forty crimes contested were committed in the regions of Marche, Abruzzo and Puglia, involving the following municipalities, with seventeen scams committed in the province of Ancona alone:

MARCHE ABRUZZO PUGLIA

• Ancona – 2 scams
• Fabriano (AN) – 3 scams
• Jesi (AN) – 5 scams
• Osimo (AN) – 1 scam
• Falconara M.ma (AN) – 1 scam
• Montemarciano (AN) – 1 scam
• Loreto (AN) – 2 scams
• Filottrano (AN) – 1 scam
• Cerreto d'Esi (AN) – 1 scam
• Urbino (PU) – 1 scam
• Macerata – 1 scam
• Castelraimondo (MC) – 2 scams
• Caldarola (MC) – 1 scam
• Corridonia (MC) – 1 scam
• Matelica (MC) – 1 scam
• Recanati (MC) – 3 scams
• Potenza Picena (MC) – 1 scam
• Cingoli (MC) – 1 scam
• Vasto (CH) – 3 scams
• San Salvo (CH) – 2 scams
• Ostuni (BR) – 2 scams
• Bari – 1 scam
• Manfredonia (FG) – 2 scams
• Sternatia (LE) – 1 scam

The measure carried out constitutes a precautionary measure ordered during preliminary investigations, to which a means of appeal is permitted and the recipients of the same are people subjected to investigations and therefore presumed innocent until a final sentence is reached.