2023-12-20 12:40:48
The Provincial Court of Tenerife has imposed an eight-year prison sentence on a false lawyer and a real estate agent who kept 105,000 euros from a buyer to whom they sold an apartment in Tegueste without the owner’s permission.
Those convicted are obliged to return the defrauded amount and also pay a fine of 2,200 euros.
The Prosecutor’s Office described the events as constituting a crime of aggravated fraud and requested five years in prison, a fine of 2,500 euros and the return of the 105,000 euros collected, while the scammed requested eight years in prison, a fine of 4,500 euros and recovery of the money from the sale of the apartment plus interest.
In February 2020, the owner contacted the agent to entrust her with selling the house for 200,000 euros, but shortly after seeing that she was advertising it for 180,000, she chose to break the agreement and let her know.
Despite this, the defendant continued with the operation after having contacted a buyer who began to deposit money into several accounts while she reached an agreement with a man who pretended to be a lawyer and they convinced her to pay a total of 105,000 euros.
The transfers remained in the hands of the two accused and the buyer, seeing that the operation was not formalized and they only gave her excuses, insisted on meeting with the supposed lawyer, who told her not to worry that if the purchase was not confirmed They would return the money.
In the end, the scammer set a date to go to a notary in order to formalize the purchase after the real owner did not show up on two other previous occasions, warning her by burofax that if she did not show up they would have to return double the money received. .
The owner replied that she had not authorized the sale or received any money, at which point the scammed woman realized what had happened.
The Court concludes that it has no doubt about the authorship of the two defendants once the corresponding oral hearing and the evidence presented were carried out, despite the fact that both denied having deceived the complainant.
During the hearing, an attempt was made to prove the crime with the announcement of the sale or the transfers to various accounts of which none of them were in the name of the owner, to which the alleged fraudster explained that she wanted the money in cash since she had several debts.
The Court took into account that, contrary to what happens in this type of operations, no documentary evidence of the operations was left, but a draft was made reflecting the intention to return the money, including the commissions charged.
Message conversations were also provided that demonstrate the existence of an agreement with the scammed woman that was broken months later and the intervention of the false lawyer, with whom the complainant spoke several times under the belief that he was a lawyer, something he never denied.
Another real estate agent, initially accused by the complainant, was acquitted of receiving 35,000 euros in the account in her daughter’s name, stating that she did so because the convicted person had asked her as a favor since she was the subject of several embargoes.
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