The 17 defendants, who are accused of defrauding a dozen elderly people by allegedly selling encyclopedias, were acquitted because it could not be proved that they were the ones who made the sales or that no coercion was proven when they bought them could. In the verdict, he weighed the flimsy testimonies of the victims, who are of advanced age and forced to recall events eight years ago. The court assumes that “there are reasonable doubts about the actual existence of a typical deception or at least a deception that could be attributed to one of the accused here,” according to the judgment to which EL PAÍS had access. The indictment alleges that they stole at least 185,000 euros from a dozen victims between the ages of 80 and 90 through deception about alleged debts for the purchase of books, alleged auctioning of collections and cancellation of subscriptions.
The verdict describes the harassment and threat situations to which they exposed older people. A woman called one of them and assured her that her sister, who had died years ago, had left a debt with a publisher and that she had to take it on or they would confiscate her house. However, the statements of the alleged scammers were somewhat confusing due to the time that had passed since the events and also due to the advanced age of the victims, and no coercion in the transaction could be proven. “I have a bad memory, I remember they were persistent,” said the affected woman. “The witness’s responses throughout her testimony proved confusing and contradictory,” the court verdict summarizes.
The stories told by the applicants were highly bizarre and while the court has no doubt that they happened, it did not find the defendants’ involvement credible. Another lady was called to say that a collection of books she had previously purchased was to be auctioned off and that she would have to pay a little less than €6,000 to enter. This woman didn’t trust her and went to the headquarters of the company she mentioned on the phone call. The company owner had no doubt that it was a scam and together they filed a complaint with the police. There, victims and agents prepared a device where two police officers hid in a room in the lady’s home while the alleged auctioneers went to the house to sign the alleged papers.
While they were talking to the woman, the police officers left the room and searched her vehicle and the files she was carrying. The agents found several checks from other women, a list of people with the words “Stupid and buyer”, “It won’t open for us anymore”, “It’s stupid”, as well as bank receipts, presumed notarial deeds etc. some cardboard boxes with books. The verdict accepts this story as good, but holds that there is no evidence that these men closed these deals through deception.
Another of the women paid up to €12,000 between 2014 and 2016 for various collections intended to be upgraded and later sold for higher amounts, she explained in her statement. In this case, the judge does not assume that he is accredited or who made these sales or that they came about with lies or coercion.
The statements of the police officers involved in the investigation show the difficulty of investigations where those involved feel ashamed. “We contacted all possible victims, but many told us that they didn’t want to know out of shame or to avoid further trouble,” one of the agents explained. The judges believe that an expert’s analysis did not prove that the documents kept by the defendants were false and that they were not related to a legal activity of buying and selling books.
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The court cleared the defendants of all crimes, pointing out that there is no evidence that they formed a criminal network aimed at extorting money from the elderly by exploiting their vulnerability. The judges saw no reason to doubt the innocence of the 17 detainees. Some of them said in their statement that their clients “like” to buy books.
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