Real estate agency steals 120,000 euros from elderly woman by exchanging banknotes for paper cut-outs in Spain

The National Police have arrested three people in Alicante accused of robbing 120,000 euros in 200-euro notes from the home of an 85-year-old woman, whose trust they had gained. According to the investigation, they gained access to her house using a false key and replaced the money with paper cut-outs while she was away at a spa.

The detainees, two men and a woman between the ages of 28 and 57, are real estate workers, who reportedly took advantage of the fact that the elderly woman was alone. She doesn't have a family and she agreed when they started to accompany her to various social activities, after helping her with an operation involving the purchase and renovation of a house.

The employee who had assisted her during the process, gained information about her and the amount of money she kept in her house. He also had a copy of her keys. Once he gathered enough information, he passed it on to his boss and administrator of the company.

They developed a close relationship with her and even invited her to spend two days at a spa - time which they used to perpetrate the robbery.

The plan was meticulously studied by everyone involved. The administrator of the real estate agency was in charge of preparing the paper cut-outs and the execution of the burglary in the house. On the other hand, the mother of the employee who advised the elderly woman on her home, was the one who accompanied her to the spa, with the aim of keeping her away from the home for as long as necessary.

A fourth person was in charge of driving the woman to the spa, unaware of the real purpose of the trip. He was used without knowing that he was part of a criminal plan.

The investigation began following a complaint by the victim herself, who discovered the paper cut-outs in the case where she kept the money.

The main suspect was arrested in a hotel establishment in Alicante when he was about to hand over part of the money stolen. During this operation, 26,000 euros in cash and a high-end mobile phone were seized. A few hours later, the administrator of the real estate company was arrested at the company's headquarters. The last detainee was located and arrested at another location in Alicante.

During the operation, four searches were carried out: two in private homes and another two in the offices of the real estate agency. Two of the detainees, considered to be the main intellectual and material perpetrators of the crime, have been handed over to the Alicante magistrate's court.