Officers from the Ghilarza Carabinieri Company, supported by personnel from the Sassari Company, arrested two men accused of defrauding an 80-year-old man from Osilo using the "fake Carabinieri officer and self-styled lawyer" technique, extorting thousands of euros from him.
The two – one resident in Campania and already known to law enforcement and the other resident in Lazio and with a clean criminal record – had landed in Olbia on November 17.
Once the victim was identified, they contacted her: one of them posed as a lawyer, demanding a €14,000 bail in cash or valuables to be handed over to an "appointed agent" in order to secure the release of the elderly man's daughter, who, he claimed, was being held at the Carabinieri station in Sassari because, following a road accident, she was accused of hitting a woman, who was later hospitalized in serious condition.
The elderly man was then held on the phone for several minutes, necessary to prevent him from making or receiving any further calls and to gather information about his home and locate it. Then, as expected, the "call operator's" accomplice showed up at the scene, demanding the fictitious bail money.
The elderly man, now in a state of psychological subjection and greatly apprehensive about the alleged situation his daughter had found herself in, had then handed over to the scammers €5,000 in cash and numerous valuable jewels and valuable items.
But, as mentioned, it was all a sham. After realizing it was a subtle deception, the man turned to the real Carabinieri. Thanks to the timely investigations conducted by the Ghilarza Company, the officers were able to quickly locate the car used by the criminals, parked on a street in the center of Sassari, and the rooms of the B&B where they were staying, rented with false documents. They then raided the property, where the two were stopped and arrested .
The old man's cash and jewels were also found in the rooms, hidden in a wardrobe and in the frame of a picture hanging on the wall.
At the end of the raid, the two swindlers – who will have to answer to the charge of aggravated extortion – were taken to Bancali prison , at the disposal of the judicial authorities.
«Even in this case, the Carabinieri's knowledge of the social and criminal fabric was decisive. Thanks to the immediate investigative activities carried out, they managed to arrest the perpetrators of the robbery carried out in the province of Sassari but which – as stated in a statement from the Carabinieri – undoubtedly has connections with similar crimes perpetrated in the Oristano area for which the Oristano Provincial Command has already proceeded to identify and arrest numerous perpetrators, also by virtue of the investigative experience that has been consolidated and which has allowed the operations and numerous arrests already starting in the summer and autumn of 2024».
This is – investigators specify – the third recent case solved by the military of the Oristano Provincial Command after the 3 arrests made at the Port of Cagliari for extortion that took place on November 7th in Baratili San Pietro and Uras as well as for the attempted extortion in Marmilla in Collinas on October 24th.
(Unioneonline)
