They cut the bank cards in half on the spot, but taped them back together afterwards. They used that to withdraw money and make all kinds of purchases. In October, two suspects were captured in Deerlijk after a potential victim notified the police.
They extorted more than 206,000 euros from 24 victims. “The gang members shamefully abused the trust of a group of very vulnerable elderly victims,” the judge said in the ruling. The main defendant was sentenced to an effective prison sentence of four years. Two others got off with community service, the others received prison sentences of between one year and twenty months. All together an amount of 76,000 euros was confiscated. One person was acquitted.