At the opening session of the trial held this morning, the individual described as “the mastermind of the scheme” explained that “it all started” when he acted as an intermediary for a friend in securing a loan from third parties. This friend “failed to pay the installments,” and he found himself “responsible for the payment” of the debt, compelled to “pay 500 euros daily in interest and additional charges.”
“It’s all true. I introduced a friend to someone who lent him money. He was being threatened, and I felt sorry for him. I lent him seven thousand euros, and he asked for another five thousand, but only managed to pay the first installment before disappearing. The lender then came after me, demanding 500 euros per day in interest, and I could no longer pay,” the defendant explained.
The defendant revealed that he placed an ad on OLX to rent out an apartment he was moving out of, posing as the property’s owner, and kept the rental payments and deposits collected: “The first time, I did it alone,” he stated.
“Later, I started doing it with my aunt, and eventually, I approached the person I owed money to, revealing what I had been doing. They forced me to continue. That’s when we began renting out local accommodation apartments, asking others to impersonate the homeowners to sign contracts and use their bank accounts,” he noted.
When questioned about why he never reported being threatened and extorted, the defendant cited fear: “I was afraid for my family and was ashamed,” he said.
“I paid nearly 200,000 euros in compounded interest,” he recounted.
Regarding the other defendants, he said he “paid some a percentage of the rent and others between 150 and 500 euros each time they either accompanied him to show houses or allowed their accounts to be used.”
“I want to pay everything back,” he admitted.
The defendants, aged between 23 and 51, are accused of criminal association, aggravated fraud, document forgery, money laundering, computer forgery, misuse of identification documents, theft, and aggravated threats.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office believes that the group defrauded 88 individuals, amassing approximately 180,000 euros from the scheme between September 2022 and February 2024 (when the defendants were arrested).
The trial for these 16 defendants is already scheduled to continue until the 17th.
