A man, who is currently serving a separate prison sentence, has been charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office with orchestrating a scheme to defraud elderly individuals in several villages in the district of Coimbra between January 2020 and June 2021.
He is suspected of 16 crimes, five of which were allegedly committed with an unidentified accomplice.
The indictment claims that the defendant, originally from the Alentejo region, planned to approach victims in public spaces, primarily when they were alone, convincing them that he was a relative or an acquaintance of their friends or family.
To lend credibility to his approach, he reportedly gathered information beforehand about the names of the victims’ friends and family, as stated by the Public Prosecutor (MP).
According to the case, the man claimed to have opened a jewelry store and requested that the victims hand over gold items, under the pretense of needing to photograph or replicate them.
Allegedly, the defendant also offered the victims boxes or small bags containing worthless costume jewelry and imitation gold pieces, supposedly representing items that he would sell in his jewelry store.
After gaining possession of the victims’ items, the man would leave the scene, with the MP indicating that he appropriated gold objects valued at approximately 20,000 euros.
The victims, aged between 68 and 80, were from the municipalities of Cantanhede, Soure, Figueira da Foz, Coimbra, and Montemor-o-Velho.
In one instance, he claimed to be an emigrant nephew of the victim, while in another he posed as a doctor, always having details about the victim’s close relatives and friends, including their names and residences.
The Public Prosecutor notes that the defendant had already been sentenced to six years and six months in prison in 2019 for committing six counts of fraud.
The current charges relate to crimes allegedly committed after this conviction, during which time the defendant was on the run.
The trial is set to commence on Thursday at the Coimbra Court at 9:30 AM.
