Krakow, Katowice, Rzeszow. Police busted a group that extorted money from seniors

As reported by the Police Headquarters, an investigation into an organized criminal group involved in fraud using the so-called legend method (e.g. a grandson, a policeman, road accident) were conducted by police officers from Krakow and Tarnów under the supervision of the District Prosecutor's Office in Tarnów. To date, investigators have proven that the suspects committed about 40 such acts, for the amount of over one and a half million zlotys.

The first fraudsters were caught in mid-August after extorting 100 thousand złoty from a 73-year-old resident of Nowa Huta. The man reported the crime to the police, thanks to which the police stopped a taxi on one of the streets of Krakow, whose 60-year-old driver was supposed to transport some of the stolen money abroad. His 47-year-old partner who accompanied him was also arrested.

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That same evening, in one of Krakow's shopping malls, police arrested four more people, including the 26-year-old leader of the group, who personally took 100,000 PLN from a defrauded senior citizen. In addition to him, his 16-year-old partner and two 17-year-olds were arrested. Many mobile phones, SIM cards, tear gas and about 22,000 PLN from the last fraud were seized from the detainees.

During a search of one of the apartments occupied by the fraudsters, the police seized another PLN 137,000, most likely originating from the crime.

In the District Prosecutor's Office in Tarnów, three of the detainees were charged with participation in an organized criminal group, and a 26-year-old was charged with leading the group. Five members of the group were also charged with fraud. The court decided to apply temporary arrest for three months to three of them. The remaining three received non-custodial measures.

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According to police findings, after the group leader was detained, his two associates most likely wanted to continue the operation by recruiting, among others, people to collect money, the so-called “collectors”. Investigators working on the group's case quickly established the identity of both of these men and the recruited “collectors”.

On Monday, there were more arrests on the streets of Krakow. This time, the police arrested three residents of Krakow, aged 28, 20 and 19, and two residents of the Krakow district, aged 19 and 21. 30 thousand zlotys were seized from those arrested. The police also seized three cars belonging to those arrested.

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The second group of detainees in the District Prosecutor's Office in Tarnów were charged with fraud and participation in an organized criminal group. The prosecutor's office requested the court to temporarily arrest them.

Some of the defrauded seniors have already had their savings returned. Investigators describe the case as developing and announce more arrests.

According to statistics, in the first half of this year alone, the police in Małopolska recorded 354 reports of fraud on the so-called legend. 238 reports concerned attempted fraud, and 116 concerned committed fraud. The total losses incurred by seniors as a result of fraudsters' activities amounted to almost PLN 7.3 million.