According to the conviction of the public prosecutor, they selected their victims “specifically”: Older, often single people, who are already limited in their ability to perceive and criticize. The defendants Adam K., Josef C. and Leonard G. posed as craftsmen to senior citizens in Munich and Nuremberg and claimed that they had to check the water pipes in their apartments. A bluff.
Criminal investigators call this scam “false craftsmen”. Because as soon as the perpetrators are granted access to an apartment, one of them distracts the victim while another searches everything for valuables. Since this Tuesday Adam K., Josef C. and Leonard G. have to answer before the Munich I district court. The public prosecutor has brought charges of aggravated gang theft.
Between January and February of last year, the three men stole cash and jewelry worth more than 53,000 euros in just four weeks, according to the indictment. Her oldest victim was a 94-year-old woman from Ramersdorf-Perlach. On January 28, 2021, the defendants stole 30,000 euros from an envelope and 1,000 euros from their wallet, which was lying on an armchair, from a closet in the old lady’s living room. The day before, Z. and the co-defendants are also said to have stolen jewelery worth around 10,000 euros from the bedroom of an 84-year-old in Ramersdorf-Perlach, as well as a further 400 euros from the senior woman’s wallet.
One of the accused had already stood before the trial
At the start of the trial before the 9th Criminal Chamber, K. and the two co-defendants initially held back from providing information. Because all three are related to each other. The 31-year-old Josef C., however, had already made a comprehensive confession in the course of the investigation. The warrant for his arrest was subsequently suspended. Adam K. and Leonard G. are still in custody.
Only after several conversations with their lawyers did they admit the alleged acts – and charged another perpetrator, also a relative of the three. According to Adam K.’s defense lawyer, his client and the previously unknown alleged accomplice were the “ringleaders”. With the money from the booty, Adam K. is said to have mainly financed his alcohol and drug addiction. He testified that his accomplices Josef C. and Leonard G. only played a “subordinate role” in the crimes. The process is ongoing.