Women face 25 years in jail for swindle involving apartments

Two women from Chisinau younger than 40 are liable to 25 years' imprisonment each for trying to illegally get money from the sale and rental of realty that belonged to other persons by posing as employees of a real estate company, deputy head of the Ministry of the Interior's Organized Crime Division Veaceslav Garstea said in a news conference on Wednesday, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. The women are suspected of being involved in at least two cases of swindle. In the first case, they swindled €280 out of a young woman as rent for a one-room apartment. The real owner of the apartment appeared shortly and forced the girl out. In the second case, the women attempted to illegally sell the apartment of a 69-year-old woman situated in Chisinau's Botanica district. The old woman was offered to lease the apartment. Obtaining the old woman's identification papers, the 'business women' drew up a contract for the sale of the apartment, not for the rental. The women were to get €35,000 for the apartment. The future owners of the apartment who were abroad left €250 as a pledge. Veaceslav Garstea said one of the suspects was earlier sentenced to seven years in prison for similar activities. According to him, the swindlers target mainly elderly persons who are easier deceived. The real number of swindled persons is not known as the victims do not report the cases to the police.