Telephone fraud involving 'tax office satellite' in Lamia: three found guilty, one sent directly to prison
Three defendants were convicted of attempted fraud against a 67-year-old in a village near Lamia. One man was taken immediately to prison due to a serious criminal record.
Bag of stones and corn thwarted fraud scheme in Lamia
The Single-Judge Misdemeanour Court of Lamia issued a conviction against all three defendants in a telephone fraud case tried on Monday 7 September. According to In.gr, one of the three — a 34-year-old man — was taken directly to prison due to a particularly serious criminal record.
The attempted fraud took place on the afternoon of Friday 4 September, when an unknown caller rang the landline telephone of a 67-year-old resident of a village near Lamia, presenting himself as his accountant. The unknown caller claimed that a "tax office satellite" was scanning the area and recording the assets of residents, asking the 67-year-old to immediately collect money and valuables in a bag and leave it outside his house.
The 67-year-old immediately realised it was a fraud and notified the Crime Investigation and Detection Unit of Lamia. In consultation with the police officers, he decided to pretend to comply with the perpetrators' instructions.
He told the fraudsters that he had placed 12,000 euros and 85 gold sovereigns in the bag, with a total value of over 74,000 euros. In reality, the bag contained stones and corn. Following the perpetrators' instructions, he initially left the bag in the village cemetery, beneath a cypress tree. When asked to change the delivery location, he told them that the bag was now in front of the cemetery fountain — a spot he had never visited — thereby directing them straight into the trap the police had set.
Police initially arrested two men, aged 34 and 43, who were Roma, as they moved towards the cypress tree to collect the bag. The two men were travelling in a black Jeep with Athenian registration plates. During a vehicle search, it was found that the plates were forged and had been placed with magnets over the genuine ones. On their mobile phones, Google Maps searches were found for the specific village, its main square, and hotels in Lamia.
A few minutes later, a 28-year-old woman was arrested after being spotted walking near the cemetery fountain. Her mobile phone was found to have active navigation displaying a route from the village main square to the cemetery.
During the hearing, the defendants made claims that caused a stir in the courtroom. The two men denied any involvement in fraud, claiming they happened to be in the village by chance. According to their statements, they had left Athens bound for Karpenissi to search for scrap cars and scrap metal, whilst at the same time looking to eat suckling pig and ultimately got lost on the village roads.
A different account was given by the 28-year-old, claiming she went to the area on the instructions of an acquaintance in order to collect envelopes without knowing their contents. She also claimed that this person was extorting her, threatening to release intimate photographs and videos — a claim presented as a case of extortion through revenge porn.
The court rejected all the claims and found all three defendants guilty. The 34-year-old — who had recently been released from prison and carries convictions in his criminal record for armed robbery, criminal organisation, and weapons offences — was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison for attempted fraud and forgery. The sentence was not suspended and his appeal has no suspensive effect, resulting in him being taken directly to prison.
The 43-year-old was handed a total prison sentence of 2 years and 9 months for attempted fraud and forgery. The court recognised the mitigating factor of his previous lawful conduct, the sentence was converted to a financial penalty of 10 euros per day, and his appeal has suspensive effect.
The 28-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attempted fraud. In her case too, the mitigating factor of previous lawful conduct was recognised and the sentence was suspended.
Source: In.gr