Real Estate Scams: They Sell a House That Is Not Theirs and Collect 250 Euros

A scam in the real estate sales sector in Rome was discovered by the Gdf.

Soldiers from the Provincial Command of the Guardia di Finanza of Rome have executed the order of precautionary custody in prison issued by the investigating judge at the request of the Capitoline Public Prosecutor's Office, against 5 people, investigated for the hypotheses of the crime of ideological forgery, false declaration to a public official about their identity, possession of false identification documents, money laundering and self-laundering.

The investigations started from some complaints filed by different people regarding the same apartment in the Capital. The investigations, carried out by the Economic-Financial Police Unit of Rome and by the Judicial Police Section of the GdF at the Prosecutor's Office, allowed to reconstruct a sophisticated fraud carried out, over the course of several months, to the detriment of a young family that was preparing to buy their "first home".

The scam scheme was well thought out: Mario Mattei, 58, had a sales ad published on a well-known website and, as a self-styled real estate agent, handled the relationships with prospective buyers. With the help of Nagla Alagrebi, 45, who, also thanks to a forged document, pretended to be the owner of the apartment, he then managed to draw up a "regular" deed of sale before a notary, unaware of the fraud, and to obtain the agreed price of approximately 250.000 euros.

The sum was then promptly made to disappear from the specially opened current account using Alagrebi's false identity, through cash withdrawals and two bank transfers made to two companies without valid economic reasons. The investigations revealed the activity of "monetization" of proceeds from criminal activities carried out by the trio composed of Massimo Mannarà, 60 years old, Francesco Carpentieri, 54 years old, and Mario Bazzurri, 56 years old.

In fact, through cash withdrawals, the money returned in a short time, net of the consideration for the illicit service rendered, to the person who had arranged the transfers.