Since the early hours of this Tuesday, units of the National Police, together with the Public Ministry, developed “Operation Fortuna” in the province of Chiriquí, in order to dismantle a criminal group dedicated to the crime of fraud, through the modality of calls where they indicate that the citizens have won a prize.
Reportedly, these types of prize call scams are an old fashion, but criminals still try to cash in on some people’s naivete.
So far, 15 people allegedly linked to this group have been apprehended.
The search proceedings were carried out within the operation called “Fortuna” developed in the provinces of Chiriquí, Coclé and the capital city.
The events began on November 12, 2021, when the victim received a phone call from a local bank and a telephone company informing him that he had won a prize and in order to receive it he would have to pay 7 percent to through bank deposits to avoid legal problems.
Within the complaint filed on March 8, 2022, the victim indicated that he made several bank deposits in different branches of a local bank for the sum of B/. 109,485.00.
The apprehended must be presented before the Court of Guarantees in the next few hours for the formulation of charges.
