The Criminal Court of Draguignan (Var) on Monday sentenced a man in his sixties who had defrauded a parishioner of Saint-Raphaël (Var) last summer. Under the name of Don Romano, he had passed himself off as a false Franciscan monk. He had already been convicted of similar facts in 2018, indicates
Var-Matin.
The sixty-year-old had in particular made believe that he ran an orphanage in Benin and needed money to hire a teacher. He had also told her that he was in communication with Padre Rio, an Italian priest to whom she worshiped. Described as “kindness embodied” by his lawyer, the woman then gave him 1,500 euros and offered gifts worth 1,000 euros.
26 mentions in the criminal record
Arrested on October 25 after the victim had lodged a complaint against him, the bogus monk denied the facts while in police custody. During his trial, he chose to remain silent.
The man was finally sentenced to 30 months in prison with continued detention. He will also have to pay 5,700 euros in damages to the victim of the scam.
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