this Supreme Court (TS) confirmed a sentence of 3.5 years in prison for a man from Pamplona who orchestrated a large-scale fraud. The scheme involved an elderly victim, an investment rendition worth 100,000 euros, and fake opportunities marketed through a Seychelles-registered company. The defendant had a prior fraud conviction from 2014, underscoring a pattern of deceit that spanned years.
The elderly man sought to withdraw cash from his bank account and was persuaded to allocate the funds to investments promised by the defendant. The terms included a monthly return of 5 percent, or 2,500 euros, with the expectation that the principal would be returned. In reality, the money never reached genuine investment channels. The defendant forged documents from financial institutions to bolster his credibility and posed as the head of a construction company in Pamplona to lend an air of legitimacy to the scam.
In the subsequent phase of the trial, the court reaffirmed its earlier stance. The Supreme Court, continuing the same line of reasoning, rejected the appeal. The core finding was that the defendant had engaged in deceit prior to the transaction, offering extravagant profits to an elderly victim and exploiting his trust to drain assets from the victim’s patrimony.
The victim, born in 1930, had ties to a Pamplona hotelier. Aware of the old man’s stroke and his precarious financial state after a string of poor stock market investments, this contact introduced him to the defendant, who presented himself as an investment manager. The hotel operator faced charges related to mediation but was acquitted in that instance.
5% monthly interest
The court’s ruling highlighted the defendant’s awareness of the victim’s profile, gleaned through his social circle, and his motive to secure higher returns in light of the vascular incident the victim had suffered. A deliberate plan emerged to gain the victim’s trust and extract as much money as possible, with no intention of returning the funds. The defendant guided the victim through various properties in Pamplona, presenting them as owned by him, and pointed to public works supposedly carried out by the construction company. Deeds were shown, and meals were shared at multiple restaurants as part of the manipulation.
In line with the plan, the defendant offered a disguised loan investment that would yield 5 percent monthly interest. Intermediaries, including the hotelier, witnessed the operation. Initially, the victim withdrew 50,000 euros from his bank account, and the defendant signed a contract on behalf of an international holding company based in Seychelles, where the defendant claimed to hold a managerial position. When the victim sought additional guarantees to invest another 50,000 euros, the defendant fabricated a false document from an Italian organization to lend credibility to the operation. The funds were reinvested in January 2016, and the victim did not receive any returns.
The court also confirmed that the 100,000 euros reported by the elderly man constituted his primary asset. The funds were needed for rent, food, and housing, and his advanced age required assistance with daily tasks. The case underscores how vulnerability and trust were exploited to drain the victim’s resources, highlighting the defendant’s calculated scheme and lack of any genuine investment activity.
The judicial outcome reflects the gravity of premeditated deception and the harm caused to a defenseless individual, emphasizing how fraud can be structured through professional-looking documents, credible-seeming entities, and social connections that mask the true nature of the operation. The decision, reported in detailed court records, serves as a warning against investment pitches that rely on fallacious documentation and inflated promises.
[Source: Supreme Court records; regional court summaries; official case documentation for the Pamplona fraud allegations.]
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