Overview
- A 31-year-old man was convicted by the Landgericht Traunstein and given five and a half years for particularly serious fraud after prosecutors said he collected valuables taken in a 'Schockanruf' scam.
- The victim, an 85-year-old businessman, handed over gold jewelry, luxury watches and cash worth about €150,000 after callers posing as court and police officials falsely claimed his daughter had been in a fatal accident.
- Police arrested the collector in Rosenheim on the evening of 21 January with a bag full of the victim’s jewelry and cash, a named jewelry case and a note bearing the victim’s address.
- Prosecutors had sought 6.5 years for alleged gang-related and commercial fraud while the defense argued the man was only a low-level courier; the judge found he had basic knowledge of the plan and applied precedent that treats collectors as co-perpetrators.
- Authorities say the pick-up was part of a wider call wave across southern Bavaria and that the suspect had multiple phones logged in the region after entering Germany in mid-January, raising questions about cross-border, decentralized scam networks and the need for stronger prevention.