“The more vulnerable the person is, the better.“. The head of investigation of Mossos d’Esquadra’s Sants-Montjuïc outpost describes with this rudeness that a group of eight – four men and four women – acted without conscience. Cheated, robbed, threatened and in some cases beaten 14 elderly people Born in Barcelona, aged between 72 and 95. Among its victims are people with disabilities. The sub-inspector insists these are “extremely serious” events. “The 88-year-old woman was warned by holding a glass of water in her eye.”they would hit you in the face‘ if the debit card has not provided the password”.
Group sneaked into homes the elders they chose, making sure that they lived alone before and that they were old, ‘fake gas inspector’ scam. With this criminal typology, thieves sneak into the victim’s home pretending to work for their own gas or electricity company. As in this last case of the now-disbanded gang, they usually work in pairs, with one of them pretending to inspect the boiler or electrical panel while their friend steals jewelry and valuables from their owners. If they’re discovered, they don’t hesitate to use them. violence and bullying.
Investigators finally put a magnifying glass on these fake gas inspectors, all middle-aged Peruvians, in February 2023. Two assailants detained by a Catalan police patrol. had caught with the victim’s jewels in their pockets.
defined
Investigators from the Sants-Montjüic region were looking for a group of “fake gas inspectors” who have been attacking the elderly in their area since mid-2022. They had pictures of the suspects, but they could not identify them yet.. It was the footage from the security cameras of the banks where the elderly went to empty their bank accounts after stealing their bank cards. Investigators identified the two, thanks to the patrol’s arrest in the act of redemption in February 2023. And when they were released after filing a criminal complaint after going to court for this act, they began to be watched and their phones were tapped.
During this surveillance, the investigators were able to prove that there were eight people, always working in pairs of men and women and acting together. high degree of coordination. After meeting at a bar near the homes they wanted to take action on, sharing the addresses and names of the victims, they went to work. One of the women in charge of the searches stayed at the bar: she contacted the victims and informed them that the company’s investigators were in the area and would pass by their house in a few minutes. So thieves didn’t have to knock on cold doors.
Confidential data
By proceeding in this way, Mossos was able to prove that they attacked 14 elderly people in Barcelona. They could be more. Eight thieves who were arrested on May 30 were released again by the court they were brought to. Researchers regret The old age of the victims will take the side of the criminals, as some may be dead by the time the trial takes place. or more cognitively impaired. But they are confident that they can prove to be not just scammers, but also an organized group of violent thieves attacking very vulnerable victims.
Who in the case of the old woman they threatened to break the glass of water in his faceIt proved to be true as she described, because after the science police heard her complaint, they found the suspect’s fingerprints on the glass in question.
One of the details that has not yet been resolved and is under investigation is to clarify. Where did they get the information they had about the victims?. They knew their phone number, their name, their address, as well as their age and their unaccompanied life. Agents believe that dumping their cell phones will allow them to prove that they have illegal access to a database, such as those held by large energy companies.
“They didn’t have a job, their job was to steal from the elderly,” insists the head of the Sants-Montjüic investigation unit. This group took about 60,000 euros from the victims’ bank accounts, not counting the money raised through the resale of the jewellery. “If they see they have money in the notebook, they lost their courage and went to the sack to get the needle“For us, arresting them was a priority, they attacked people who couldn’t defend themselves,” he accuses.