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“It’s great that you have a job like this, that you can help people,” says a 79-year-old woman from Alkmaar as a man picks up her shortened debit card. She has the impression that he is protecting her from theft. In reality he is the thief. Your account has been emptied. Six men, most of them from Den Helder, are suspected of defrauding many elderly people, even a man with dementia was a victim.
Photo: ANP / Robin Utrecht
It always follows the same pattern: an older lady or gentleman gets a call from someone who says they’re from the bank. The caller said money was ready to be transferred to South Africa or Nigeria. To prevent this, people had to provide their PIN code, cut out the debit card and hand it to someone who came by.
Then exactly what they fear happens: thousands of euros are debited from the seniors’ bank accounts. The public prosecutor’s office sees SA (38) from Den Helder, originally from Iraq, as the main suspect. According to her, he plays a leading role and is the one who booked a room in hotels in Den Helder, from where he called elderly people and told them that a suspicious transaction had been detected on their account.
Others then cash in people’s debit cards and empty their accounts. In some cases, amounts of up to tens of thousands of euros are debited, always from older people.
Own area
A suspect (22) from The Hague does not come from the region. Three other suspects aged 37, 26 and 23 come from Den Helder, just like A. A final suspect (27) comes from the municipality of Schagen. According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM), they often struck in their own area in 2020 and 2021. The older victims – one woman was 92 years old – lived in Alkmaar, Heiloo, Haarlem, Heemstede and Den Helder, among others.
Expensive items are said to have been purchased with the loot. The police searched A’s house. According to the judge, “an incredible number of expensive and luxurious items were found.” Dozens of cell phones, clothing, shoes, Rolex watches and gift cards are affected. The jewelry found was worth more than 20,000 euros.
“I didn’t think about the consequences and just wanted to make money”
Suspect P. (23)
He didn’t want to say why A. owned so many expensive items or how he bought them. Today, like most other suspects, he exercised his right to remain silent. A. had previously stated that he stayed in a hotel because he didn’t feel safe at home because of some things that had happened. But he didn’t want to explain anything (any more) about this matter either.
The only one who has said anything is P, now 23. He had previously said that he regretted what he had done. P. stated that he was open to an apology conversation. “If the victims don’t mind or it doesn’t affect them.” Why did he do what did he do? “I didn’t think about the consequences and just wanted to make money.”
Clever
The public prosecutor’s office assumes that the suspects acted “sophisticated and cunning.” “They left a trail of destruction and deceived people who lost their money as a result.”
Sometimes only a few euros remained in the account. “But it’s not just financial damage. There is also a lot of anger, sadness and fear among the elderly and vulnerable victims, three of whom have now died.”
Without exception, the suspects have previous convictions for drug, violence and property crimes. That’s why the public prosecutor’s office is calling for higher penalties against the men in this case.
Given A.’s important role, the public prosecutor’s office wants to have him locked up for 40 months. Lower prison sentences were demanded against the other suspects, who, according to the public prosecutor’s office, were primarily the perpetrators. The only suspect (23) who explained this is mentally retarded, which is why the public prosecutor’s office is partly demanding a lower sentence against him.
In addition, the public prosecutor’s office is demanding that the six pay compensation for the damages. The highest amount was claimed against A.: 29,000 euros. But tens of thousands of euros were also demanded against the other suspects. The judge will issue a verdict on February 14th.
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