They defrauded seniors throughout Italy: Ercolano operations center busted, 8 arrests

Naples – A veritable holding company for fraud, with a mastermind based in Naples and Ercolano and operatives ready to target defenseless elderly people in every corner of Italy, from Piedmont to Calabria.

A criminal network accused of various charges, including money laundering, self-laundering, slander, and criminal conspiracy, was dismantled at dawn today by Carabinieri officers from the Ercolano station.

The raid and the precautionary measures

At the request of the Torre Annunziata Public Prosecutor's Office, the investigating judge issued a precautionary custody order against eight people (including three women). The raids were carried out simultaneously in Naples, Ercolano, Cercola, Angri, and Boscotrecase.

Two men and a third suspect have been sent to prison: they face serious suspicion of promoting a criminal conspiracy to commit fraud and computer fraud. The other five suspects have been placed under house arrest.

The own goal: the fake kidnapping report

The investigation, coordinated by the Oplonti prosecutor's office, had a peculiar origin. It all began with a misstep committed by one of the suspects on November 9, 2023. The woman had gone to the police reporting a kidnapping: she said she had been forced by unknown perpetrators to withdraw and send €48.000 via money order.

This version didn't hold up to investigators' scrutiny. Investigations revealed that the money, transferred to the woman's account, wasn't the result of coercion, but the proceeds of a sophisticated computer fraud targeting a Roman citizen. The seizure report was, in reality, a clumsy attempt to "clear" her account and justify the illicit bank transactions (hence the charge of slander).

The operations center and orders from prison

Thanks to the analysis of video surveillance footage and a dense network of wiretaps, the Carabinieri have reconstructed the group's organizational structure. They discovered the existence of a nationwide "operations center" dedicated to scamming seniors. A disturbing detail that emerged from the investigations is the use of telephone numbers owned by inmates: the orders often came from behind bars.

The modus operandi was tried and tested: the headquarters identified vulnerable victims and sent so-called "errand boys" to their homes to collect money and valuables.

The blows from North to South

The investigation linked the group to specific incidents that occurred in June 2024. Specifically, it was possible to recover gold jewelry stolen from an elderly woman in Bova Marina (Reggio Calabria). Furthermore, damning evidence was acquired regarding a fraud committed in Candelo (Biella), an incident that had already led to the arrest of a Neapolitan "traveler" by local Carabinieri.