They ask for 7 years for 'El Chapuzas' for 28 scams in homes in 12 Basque towns

The Prosecutor's Office asks for seven years in prison for a man known as

, accused of defrauding more than 270,000 euros altogether from 28 homeowners in

, Bilbao and ten other towns in

, whom he allegedly left unfinished the reform of their apartments once they have received large advances.

Along with 'The botch', who has already been convicted of several similar cases and is currently in prison,

, who allegedly would have received money in their bank accounts or in cash. from the advances of some of the alleged scams.

For this reason, the woman faces a request for six years in prison from the Public Ministry, which demands two years for each of the other two defendants.

Most of the alleged scams took place in

, while the rest took place in

.

According to the provisional indictment of the Prosecutor's Office, to which EFE has had access, "The bungling" followed the same "modus operandi" in all cases, in a period between 2014 and 2020, and following "a preconceived plan ".

In this way, the accused offered through the "mailbox system" construction services "for the reform of houses", which included "work corresponding to different unions" such as

and even "repairing small things".

In his advertisement, which offered a "tempting" price such as "the reform of a flat from 18,500 euros with labor and materials included", the defendant

" and included one or more contact mobile phone numbers.

"In all cases," the Public Ministry text details, the defendant provided his victims with a new contact number after agreeing to the reforms, and presented them with a work budget that "included an initial payment" of between 30 and 50% of the work.

Subsequently, the defendant, "rather than initiating the contracted reforms, simply sent a group of employees at his service to the homes" who

, falsely simulating a start of work", clarifies the document of the Prosecutor's Office.

Then, the letter continues, after gaining the trust of customers, he asked them, under the pretext of buying materials, "one or more advances", sometimes in cash and other times through income in different checking accounts, which in some cases allegedly would have received the woman and the other two men also accused in these proceedings.

The Prosecutor's Office indicates that, once these amounts were achieved, the workers allegedly stopped going to the works "thus abandoning the houses,

and consequently totally uninhabitable."

In the cases in which only painting works were hired, "the bungler" simulated the preparation of the house "for this purpose", after which he supposedly abandoned it "in the same way and with the same 'modus operandi', without actually performing the contracted tasks ".

"Once the work was abandoned," the document continues, "he

and subsequently cut off all types of communication with them, presumably seizing in this way, all the defendants, of the amounts delivered on account of a work that they never intended to begin or end. "

It so happens that, along with the 28 alleged scams mentioned, a rigger whose services were required by 'El bots' to carry out a reform in

and who would have stopped paying a job

was also the victim of an alleged deception

for an amount of 215 euros.

In addition to this procedure, which will soon be tried in San Sebastián, "El bots" was sentenced just a few days ago by the

to one year and two months in prison for a similar case that occurred in Irun.

Likewise, last November a

imposed two years and eight months on him for leaving six works unfinished in different homes in San Sebastián, Pasaia, Irun, Belauntza and Hernani, after collecting important advances.

Likewise, in October he was sentenced to a year and a half in jail by another court in the Gipuzkoan capital that found him guilty of defrauding a total of 7,458 euros from another

neighbor by the same method .

Previously, 'El chapuzas' had also been sentenced by a Bilbao court to one year and ten months in prison for keeping 13,600 euros in advances to buy materials for the reform of a flat that he left unfinished in the capital of Biscay.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

See links of interest

• Last News

• Holidays 2021

• 2022 business calendar

• Basque Holidays

• What

• Home THE WORLD today

• Villarreal - Alaves

• Seville - Barcelona