Milan, 92-year-old dies during fake carabinieri scam: two Egyptians arrested
A 92-year-old pensioner died in Milan on 28 October during an attempted scam perpetrated using the fake carabinieri technique. Two young Egyptians, aged 19 and 24, have been arrested for murder and aggravated robbery.
Death during fake carabinieri scam in Milan
According to rainews.it, a 92-year-old man died in Milan on 28 October, the day after an attempted scam in his apartment on Via Muratori. His daughter discovered the body and initially the death appeared to be due to accidental causes, but an autopsy revealed head injuries incompatible with a fall. Two young Egyptians, aged 19 and 24, have been arrested for murder and aggravated robbery.
The incident began on 27 October when the two presented themselves at the elderly man's door posing as carabinieri. According to the Mobile Squad's reconstruction, one of the two acted as a lookout while the other entered the apartment and violently attacked the man. The robbery yielded jewellery, gold items and other valuables. Police intervention occurred at around 17:48 when emergency services were alerted.
Investigators found decisive evidence of the victim's psychological subjugation. On the kitchen table lay a handwritten sheet in the elderly man's handwriting, containing revealing notes: "not in possession of any clothing linked to the theft" and "not in possession of weapons linked to the theft". These notes, according to the Public Prosecutor's office, demonstrate how the victim had been psychologically subdued by the fraudsters during the scam.
The chronology of phone calls received on the victim's mobile phone proved highly significant. After 1 p.m. on 27 October there were calls lasting eight minutes and one lasting twenty-three minutes, shortly before one of the suspects presented himself at the door. The carabinieri also obtained images from security cameras of nearby shops, which documented the presence of the two at the location.
In the report drawn up at the time of discovery, officers describe the elderly man "lying on the floor in a semi-conscious state" along the entrance corridor, with an overturned chair and a wallet without money. The kitchen remained untouched: the table was still set with an unconsumed meal and medicines. The wallets were open and empty; a box with a blue lining, normally hidden in the bedroom wardrobe, had been completely emptied of all gold jewellery, wedding rings and valuables of considerable worth.
Neighbours and shopkeepers immediately cooperated with the investigation, providing crucial testimony: "there were no signs of forced entry on the door: he opened it for them", they recounted. This circumstance suggests that the elderly man, persuaded by the telephone deception, voluntarily opened the door to his attacker.
In wiretap recordings made at police headquarters, the dynamics of the robbery emerge. One of the two suspects said: "I didn't push him hard", while the other urged him: "don't talk too much to the investigators". The two did not answer questions from the judge during the validation hearing and remain in prison pending the judge's decision on custody.
The two had been arrested approximately ten days after the elderly man's death by police in Varese province for an attempted scam against an 81-year-old woman. On that occasion they had posed as members of the Guardia di Finanza and had attempted to take gold jewellery worth fifty thousand euros. They had been released with an obligation to report to judicial police before their involvement in the murder of the Milan pensioner came to light.
The Public Prosecutor's office and investigators from the Mobile Squad are convinced they possess solid evidence against the two young men and believe they possessed an organised network that prepared the ground for the scams. The investigation is continuing to establish the extent of this network of serial fraudsters. In parallel, other similar cases have been documented: two fake police officers were arrested in Rome after stealing two hundred thousand euros from a pensioner; two other arrests took place in Udine in an operation by the Padua Mobile Squad in relation to another attempted fake carabinieri scam.
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)