Dessau-Roßlau (Saxony-Anhalt) – Ercan E. has been in custody for eight months. He is a member of a telephone mafia gang. That’s why the offer the prosecutor made to the 24-year-old sounded tempting: immediate freedom in exchange for the names of his accomplices.
But the young Turk, who until his arrest in Nordhausen (Thuringia) lived, preferred four years in prison. To him, betraying the masterminds of the telephone mafia seems much more dangerous than spending time in the cell.
Senior public prosecutor Frank Obudzinski: “The accomplices got phone numbers from older citizens, called them and pretended to be police officers. They led their victims to believe that they were victims of planned burglaries, and the banks of those affected were also involved, where large amounts of counterfeit money were discovered.
Victims should leave money at the door
The victims of the Shock calls should leave their savings in bags on the doorstep. The scam was worth it for the telephone gang: They stole around 100,000 euros in Dessau-Roßlau and Wittenberg, among other places.
The defendant Ercan E. picked up the money bags as a supposed police officer. His bad luck: A victim (84) became suspicious and alerted the police in good time. Ercan E. was arrested.
I don’t know if I can trust again
BILD reporters found out what suffering the criminals caused with their shock calls during a visit to the pastor’s widow Barbara M. (90). She also became a victim of Ercan E. She gave away 11,000 euros and was cheated out of her entire assets.
Barbara M. (90) not only lost her savings, but also her trust in other people
Photo: PHOTONAUT MEDIA
Barbara M. lived with her husband – a pastor – in a small Altmark community in Saxony-Anhalt for more than 45 years. “I always believe in the good in people. “I never thought I could be so badly disappointed,” she says.
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In addition to the financial loss, the elderly pensioner is also faced with human disappointment: “I don’t know whether I will ever be able to trust again.” Barbara M. has no illusions: “I probably won’t see a cent of my savings again.”
The deceived pastor’s widow in conversation with BILD chief reporter Thilo Scholtyseck
Photo: PHOTONAUT MEDIA
In his plea, the senior public prosecutor demanded four and a half years in prison for the serial fraudster. The defense attorney asked the judge to impose a fine on his client, which would have brought him freedom.
But the judges set the sentence at four years in prison for four cases of commercial fraud.
The verdict is not yet final. The defense attorney has filed an appeal. The Naumburg Higher Regional Court is now reviewing the Dessau judge’s ruling.
