In a prolonged legal process, the Zaragoza County Court sentenced two members of a criminal organization, Mohamed Achraf and Hedangeline Arrieta, to 12 years and nine months in prison once again. The decision comes after a September 2019 ruling that awarded €20,650 in damages to Julián LM, a Tudela businessman who had been targeted through a social dating app and subjected to kidnapping, injuries, theft, and attempted extortion.
Both defendants had already received a total of 46 years in prison for previous crimes including the murder of a computer scientist from Guecho and a brutal robbery of a truck driver from La Almunia. They had retreated to a hideout in Luceni, convinced they could connect with Hedangeline via social media while seeking a disturbing encounter.
Concerning the latest case, the First Division of the Zaragoza Court established that the victim spent time with the woman at the Luceni train station. The victim, lured into a trap, was struck from behind with a wrench by one of the accused. He attempted to flee but tripped on an embankment and was seized by followers. The woman allegedly threatened him with a stun gun, saying, “Shut up or I’ll kill you.”
tied and gagged a trunk
The two defendants then gagged and handcuffed the victim, placing him inside the trunk of a Mercedes and driving to a warehouse where valuables were taken, including about €650 and the debit card. Crucially, his personal identification number was extracted at gunpoint.
After moving the trunk again, the abductors confirmed the victim had no available funds and demanded contact details for relatives to request a ransom. When Julián explained that his family could not provide money, the woman allegedly warned, “If you don’t have money, we’ll kill you, you son of a bitch.”
Following the robbery, the pair left the victim with his mouth exposed and a hood over his head, abandoning him on a country road. A passing farmer with a tractor assisted the injured man that night.
The court held the defendants responsible for theft by dangerous means, assault, wrongful detention, and attempted extortion. The sentence of 12 years and nine months is added to the 46 years already accumulated by the two for earlier offenses.
procedural bad faith
The court rejected Achraf’s request for a change of defense attorney at the start of the hearing on legal grounds, labeling the move as strategy and procedural misconduct. He argued that the oral proceedings should present solid evidence against the defendants to erode the presumption of innocence.
The court emphasized that the accused’s self-incriminating statements, presented during the oral hearing, implicated Hedangeline in the events. Achraf, for his part, offered a version that judges ultimately excluded, asserting that he acted under serious threats.
Nevertheless, the most compelling evidence lay in the victim’s testimony, which met all legally required standards of truth. Julián claimed to be the defendants’ “slave,” noting that the woman acted decisively and directly. When he attempted to escape, he was confronted with a replica firearm and struck from behind.
A ruthless method to achieve their goals
The chamber also confirmed the accounts provided by civil guards and medical professionals. An expert from the Benemérita highlighted that the modus operandi remained consistent across cases: victims were lured through the Badoo social network, led to believe they could start an intimate relationship through a contact named Candy who posed as a trapper.
These meetings consistently occurred in municipalities within Zaragoza province. The victims were beaten, bound, and gagged before being interrogated for bank card passwords. They were transported from place to place in search of ATMs, with their safety ignored, and were stored in the trunk of a car without concern for their well-being.
After each “delivery,” the victims were released near the site of abduction. The case also references the killing and burial of a Getxo computer scientist in a field near Pedrola as part of the broader pattern the court reviewed.