The Public Prosecutor’s Office announced in a statement that the defendants, linked by friendships and family ties, primarily operated from the Campo Maior and Elvas areas in the Portalegre district, where they resided.
“The case, involving dozens of victims from across the country, includes approximately 85 investigations,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office highlighted in the statement published on the Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Évora’s website.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged the 38 defendants with the commission of various crimes, including computer fraud, computer forgery, unlawful access, and possession of a prohibited weapon, related to the criminal scheme known as the “MBWay scam.”
According to the authorities, it was in the Campo Maior and Elvas areas where the defendants “withdrew money from ATMs by deceiving people who advertised items for sale on online marketplaces such as OLX and Custo Justo,” the statement detailed.
The indictment outlined that the events occurred in 2019 and 2020, during which time “the defendants initially expressed interest in purchasing the advertised items, gaining the sellers’ trust.”
“Subsequently, they exploited the sellers’ lack of familiarity or proficiency with MBWay to trick them into divulging their personal credentials and associating the defendants’ phone numbers with their bank accounts within the application,” it explained.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office emphasized that this approach enabled the defendants to “withdraw cash and conduct interbank transfers for their gain, causing financial harm to the victims amounting to thousands of euros.”
Without specifying amounts, the Public Prosecutor’s Office accounted for “the benefits the defendants gained from these activities, subsequently filing for the forfeiture of criminal proceeds and the direct forfeiture to the State of currency, mobile phones, and computer equipment.”
The investigation was assisted by the Criminal Investigation Unit (NIC) of the GNR in Elvas.
The period for potentially opening an instruction phase is now underway, and should it not be requested, the case will proceed to trial.
