A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, of which six months are suspended, for stealing from two North Holland elderly people living alone, aged 66 and 86, by means of chat tricks. He must also pay compensation to the victims.
A 66-year-old resident of Wormerland fell victim to the suspect on February 17 last year. About six months later, on August 9, an 86-year-old resident of Den Helder fell prey to the suspect. The procedure was the same in both cases.
Called by ‘bank employee’
The elderly were called by a ‘bank employee’. He told them that fraudsters were after their bank account and that someone from the bank or the police would come by ‘out of safety’ to collect the debit card. Soon after, one or two persons, posing as bank employees or police officers, appeared at the victims’ homes.
For example, they received the debit cards with PIN codes from the victims. Subsequently, a large amount of money was withdrawn, a total of more than eight thousand euros. Two boxes of jewelry worth fourteen thousand euros were also taken from one of the victims.
Psychological damage
The court ruled that the suspect ‘cunningly won the trust of the victims’ in order to be able to rob them. In addition, the court blames the suspect for the fact that the fraud took place in the home of the elderly victims. That is a place ‘where they should feel safe’.
The 26-year-old man is therefore sentenced to 18 months in prison, six months of which are suspended. The man must also pay compensation of more than ten thousand euros to the victims. According to the court, this not only concerns compensation for the debit card amounts and the stolen jewellery, ‘but also compensation for the psychological damage suffered. The jewelery was heirlooms and of great emotional value to the victim.’
Co-defendants in this case may have to answer to the court at a later date.