Date Published: 21/08/2020
ARCHIVED - Cehegin man simulated robbery and set fire to his business to make fake insurance claim
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
He reported that he had been assaulted by hooded thieves who stole his money, tied him up and set fire to his warehouse
Forensic investigations rapidly ascertained this week that a man who reported an attack on himself, theft of his money and even set fire to his own business was in fact just an attempt to claim insurance payouts for a failing business.
The 'Fraugín' operation (who thinks up these names….Fraud.. Cehegín….Fraugín) was launched last Wednesday, August 19th, when the Guardia Civíl attended the scene of what was initially believed to be a serious criminal act at the headquarters of a company in the municipality of Cehegín, north-west Murcia.
The manager reported that late in the morning, just as he was about to close, he was assaulted by several hooded people. They sprayed him with pepper spray, gagged him, tied him up to a girder of the commercial warehouse and intimidated him into giving them a large amount of cash that he had withdrawn from the bank a few hours earlier. He said that he had refused to give them the cash and the alleged thieves threatened to set fire to the industrial building. Supposedly, the alleged perpetrators took the money from him, set fire to some belongings that were in the building and abandoned him to his fate, fleeing the place.
As a result of the fire, the industrial building was burned and extensively damaged and the manager of the company was transferred to a health center to be treated for the alleged injuries caused by the inhalation of smoke and the pepper spray that had been sprayed on his face.
An investigation was opened to verify the facts and a meticulous technical-ocular inspection carried out at the scene.
However, investigators rapidly detected a series of inconsistencies and contradictions in the statement given by the alleged victim and suspicion grew that it could be a simulated crime.
In less than 24 hours the alleged victim of the robbery had been arrested as the alleged perpetrator of the crimes of simulation of crime and damage by fire, for causing the fire in the industrial warehouse that he had rented where he had established the headquarters of his company.
During the investigation, all of the cash that the complainant said had been stolen from him and hidden, apparently with the aim of defrauding the insurance company, was recovered.
The investigation has now been passed to the Examining Court of Caravaca de la Cruz and the perpetrator can expect a custodial sentence or significant fine, as well as a bill for damages to the warehouse as well as the cost of the emergency services fire call-out.