The ball started rolling when one of the victims filed a complaint with the police for fraud. “My client saw an advertisement in the newspaper in 2020 stating that people could sell their gold jewelry and furs at a fair price,” said the victim’s lawyer, Nadine De Boer, during the hearing in March.
READ ALSO. German gypsy clan defrauds dozens of people: “They promise money for a fur coat, but actually want your jewelry”
The victim went to the Turnhout hotel Terminus with her jewelry and fur coats. “They offered 2,000 euros for the fur coats and 400 euros for the jewelry. My client was persuaded and agreed.” A deposit of 400 euros was made, for the remaining 2,000 euros she had to return at 4 p.m. When she returned at the agreed time, there was no trace of the scammers.
The file dealt with several cases of the same scams that took place in the year 2020. The perpetrators always followed the same pattern by placing advertisements in the regional newspaper for so-called action days. The gold disappeared and the fur coats were mostly left behind in the various hotels.”
Research showed that behind these scams was a German gypsy clan that was active not only in Belgium, but also in several other European countries.
Prison sentences
Although the four defendants denied that it was fraud, all four were sentenced to prison. The first defendant, AC, received a suspended prison sentence of 18 months and a fine of 4,000 euros, as did DO. The third defendant RG received a suspended prison sentence of 14 months.
20 months suspended and a fine of 4,000 euros, the heaviest punishment of the four, is for SK. He was in possession of 3,000 euros in cash and all kinds of equipment for testing gold. During a search, 157 fur coats were found and documents from a gold exchange office showing that a total of more than 53,000 euros was received from them in a month.
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