On the morning of the 18 November 2019, in the provinces of Milan, Parma and Salerno, the Milan Provincial Command's military, collaborated by the territorially competent departments, carried out an Ordinance of Custody Cautelare in Carcere, issued by the GIP of the Court of Milan at the request of the local public prosecutor, against 5 Italians, held responsible for criminal association for the purpose of committing more fraudulent offenses against elderly people (articles 416 v. 1 and 2, 110 and 640 v. 1 , 2 No. 2 and 2 bis cp).
The activity is part of the initiatives undertaken by the Provincial Command of Milan in the 2015, to deal with a substantial increase in scams against the elderly, for whose commission often the evildoers resorted to the figure of the "fake Carabiniere". That year a task force was set up within the Investigative Unit, with the aim of making an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon at the regional level, explaining the main modus operandi [1] that occurred in the criminal episodes, aimed at starting a more structured investigative activity, which concluded with the Condor operation of the last 8 November, with the execution of 51 precautionary measures [2] issued by the Naples GIP at the request of that District Anti-Mafia Directorate.
The investigations carried out in the present criminal proceedings are part of a wider investigative effort coordinated by the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office, which identified two specialized Public Prosecutors, Dr. Giancarla Serafini and Dr. Lucia Minutella, since March of the 2018 under the direction of the Assistant Attorney Dr. Eugenio Fusco. In this context, considering the measure carried out today, in the last three years the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office, coordinating the investigations of the Carabinieri of Milan, has obtained 14 precautionary measures concerning 25 people, pursuing those responsible for well 129 crimes of this type .
Today's investigation activity, launched in May 2017, has allowed for the identification of a criminal group dedicated to fraud against the elderly, operating in northern Italy, with a base of operations in the province of Milan and closely connected, also due to parental restrictions, to the top of the macro association investigated in the aforementioned Condor operation. This criminal group, in fact, often wore gold jewelery stolen from Naples, where it later sold them exploiting the established criminal circuits highlighted with the Condor operation.
Within the association, the tasks were rigidly divided between the roles of:
- head of the organization, who recruited the telephonists, instructing them on the operational modalities, bringing every week the precious proceeds of the crimes of fraud in Naples to monetize them;
- 2 telephone operators, who contacted the victims by telephone, pretending to be a lawyer or a member of the police force, reporting that a close relative of the victim was in custody because he was involved in a road accident, explaining that payment of a sum of cash money or jewelry deliveries for his release;
- 2 operating, who went to the homes of the victims, in agreement with the telephone operator, presenting himself as a person sent by the lawyer or the marshal, and materially withdrawing the money and / or the valuables;
- 1 treasurer (suspect in a state of freedom and who only responds to a criminal association), who kept the profits of the criminal activity at his home, which he sometimes made available to the telephone operator to make calls to the victims.
In the course of the transaction, elements of authority were collected regarding the commission of 23 scam episodes (of which 18 consumed / attempted in Milan and 5 in Turin) for an approximate value of Euro 260.000.
The investigation also made use of the statements made by another suspect, at the time arrested by the Investigative Unit of Milan for other connected crimes and already sentenced in a proceeding extracted from 1 year and 6 months for participation in the association in question.
The custody measures in prison were carried out against:
- 1 free subject;
- 2 restricted subjects in the prisons of Parma and Eboli (SA);
- 1 subject supervised special and burdened by the obligation of signing;
- 1 subject entrusted to social services.
Further details will be disclosed during the press conference to be held at today's 12.00 at the Press Room of the Provincial Command of Milan, in via della Moscova nr. 21 to which the Judicial Authority will also take part.