Tax authority "satellite" fraud scheme collapses: 67-year-old man traps three perpetrators in Lamia
Three defendants were convicted by the Single-Judge Misdemeanour Court of Lamia. The 34-year-old was remanded directly to prison due to an extremely serious criminal record.
How a 67-year-old in Lamia set a trap for telephone fraudsters
A 67-year-old resident of a village in Lamia thwarted an attempted telephone fraud against him by immediately notifying police and cooperating in the arrest of the perpetrators. The case was tried on Monday, 7 September before the Single-Judge Misdemeanour Court of Lamia, according to Ta Nea reports.
Everything began in the afternoon of Friday, 4 September, when an unknown man called the 67-year-old's landline telephone, presenting himself as his accountant. The unknown man claimed that a "satellite of the tax authority" was operating at that time over the area, recording the assets of residents. He asked him to immediately gather money and valuables into a bag and put them outside the house before the alleged satellite passed over.
The 67-year-old immediately realised this was fraud. Instead of panicking, he informed the Lamia Department for the Investigation and Detection of Crimes and followed police instructions, pretending he had been convinced.
He told the caller that he had placed 12,000 euros and 85 gold sovereigns — totalling over 74,000 euros in value — in the bag. In reality, the bag contained stones and corn.
Following the caller's directions, the 67-year-old transferred the bag to the village cemetery and left it under a cypress tree. When he received another call and the perpetrators asked him to change the drop-off point, he told them he had moved the bag in front of the cemetery fountain — without actually going there. In this way, they were directed precisely to where police forces had already been deployed.
Police initially spotted a black Jeep with two passengers, aged 34 and 43. Shortly afterwards, a 28-year-old woman was also arrested, who had gone on foot to the location to collect the bag. During a search of the vehicle, it was found that the real registration plates had been covered with fake ones, attached with magnets. On the mobile telephones of the two men, Google Maps searches were found for the village, its main square, and hotels in Lamia, whilst the 28-year-old woman's mobile had active navigation enabled from the village square to the cemetery.
Before the court, all three defendants attempted to deny any involvement. The two men claimed they happened to be in the village, having set out from Athens heading towards Karpenissi to search for scrap metal and cars for scrapping, while also looking for piglets and became lost in the area. The 28-year-old stated she had gone to the location following directions from a friend to collect envelopes, without knowing their contents. She added that she had been subjected to blackmail by the particular man, who threatened her with publishing personal photographs and video material.
The court found all three guilty. A total prison sentence of three years and six months was imposed on the 34-year-old for attempted fraud and forgery. The court decided the sentence would not be converted and that his appeal would have no suspensory effect, with the result that the 34-year-old was remanded directly to prison. A decisive role was played by his extremely serious criminal record: he had been recently released and carried convictions spanning many decades for armed robbery, criminal organisation, and weapons offences.
A prison sentence of two years and nine months was imposed on the 43-year-old for the same charges. The court recognised the mitigating factor of his previous law-abiding life, his appeal suspended execution of the sentence, and the sentence was converted to 10 euros per day. An 18-month prison sentence for attempted fraud was imposed on the 28-year-old, with recognition of the same mitigating factor, conversion of the sentence to 10 euros per day, and suspension of her appeal.
The court also ordered the confiscation and seizure of the luxury vehicle and the mobile telephones that were used to commit the offences.
Source: Ta Nea