Fraud by fake police officers: Attentive pastor got the investigation rolling - two men and a woman from Lower Saxony were arrested.
Successful investigation against fake police officers
A pastor suspected an attempt at fraud and immediately informed the police.
Arrest of several people led to further investigations.
Period of crime: November 2019 to February 2020 Crime scenes: Hamburg and Lower Saxony
As early as mid-November, fake police officers tried to con an 81-year-old woman from Eppendorf out of her savings. The woman, who lives in a senior citizen's accommodation, had already emptied her bank safe deposit box and was about to take jewelry, gold coins and gold bars worth a total of almost 50,000 euros to a storage location agreed with the perpetrators.
On the way there, however, she met a pastor she knew completely by chance. He noticed the apparently well-filled and heavy jute bag that she was carrying. When asked about this, the woman reported the request from the alleged police officers. The pastor suspected the attempted fraud and immediately informed the police. He had also noticed a suspicious man on the premises, whom he also reported to the police and gave a detailed description of.
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The alerted officers from Police Department 23 then temporarily arrested a 22-year-old German as the suspected pick-up person. During the investigation, which began immediately, it became known that the arrested man had already taken almost 80,000 euros in cash from a 75-year-old woman from Wandsbek at the front door the day before and immediately passed the money on to people behind it. The man appeared before a judge, who also issued an arrest warrant. However, its implementation has now been suspended subject to certain conditions.
Further investigation through arrest
As a result of this arrest, the officers from the specialist department for trick fraud and trick theft (LKA 433) discovered a 30-year-old Turkish man from Bremen and a 22-year-old German from Weyhe, who, according to the investigators' findings, were acting in the background as logisticians . They also have knowledge of connections to Turkey and therefore assume that the fraudulent calls came from there, presumably from corresponding call centers. A 26-year-old Lebanese woman from Osterholz-Scharmbeck also came into focus as another suspected pick-up person.
This 26-year-old woman was temporarily arrested on Valentine's Day after she picked up around 25,000 euros in cash on Autobahn 7 near Schwarmstedt. A 73-year-old woman and her husband deposited this money there. Both had been directed there by the fake police officers from Thuringia, a two-hour drive away, specifically to deposit the money. The suspect was initially released after the immediate criminal police measures were taken in consultation with the Hamburg public prosecutor's office.
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After further extensive investigations, the Hamburg public prosecutor finally obtained arrest warrants and search warrants for the apartments of the two suspected backers and the woman arrested on Valentine's Day.
During the searches carried out on Wednesday, investigators seized various pieces of evidence, including cell phones and IT devices. The woman from Osterholz-Scharmbeck and the man from Bremen were found at their home addresses and arrested during the searches; the suspect from Weyhe was arrested at a vocational school in Gelsenkirchen. The Hamburg investigators were supported by officials from Bremen, Diepholz, Osterholz, Verden, Weyhe and Gelsenkirchen.
The trio is also suspected of having tried to con an 81-year-old man from St. Georg out of his savings in January. The man and his wife had already taken gold coins worth around 50,000 euros from a bank safe deposit box. Ultimately, the money was not handed over because the perpetrators apparently assumed that the seniors had contact with the real police.
The final investigation is ongoing. It is being checked whether the suspects can be assigned to other crimes.
The police point out:
Experience shows that the perpetrators are not only interested in making big booty, but also in mocking their victims.
The fake police scam is and remains popular. Talk to your parents and grandparents about it and don't put off such a conversation.
And if you think you are not affected, then be clear: in the few cases in which the perpetrators are successful, they often steal tens of thousands of euros. It could be your inheritance that the perpetrators are after!
Related to the topic: Fake police officers on the phone: Tips for prevention.
Source: Hamburg Police
Article image: Shutterstock / By Erich Karnberger
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