Police arrest fake police officers - Judge orders pre-trial detention

In early September 2024, an unknown caller posed as a police officer to an 89-year-old woman from the Hanover region. In several conversations, he told her about an alleged covert procedure against criminal bank employees who were circulating counterfeit money. Allegedly to support the investigation, the man asked the elderly woman to deposit amounts of money in envelopes outside her house. The senior initially trusted him and handed over a total of more than 100,000 euros. However, over time her doubts grew, and she turned to the real police.

The investigation was conducted by the specialists of the Department for Trick Fraud and Theft of the Central Criminal Service (ZKD) Hanover in close cooperation with the Hanover Public Prosecutor's Office. In detailed investigative work, the officers identified the whereabouts of two suspects in Bremen and it turned out that they were already preparing the next crime. An 81-year-old woman from near Bremen was the target of the perpetrators. They also told her a similarly fabricated story and pressured her to hand over money. The suspects were unaware that they were already being targeted by the ZKD Hanover, with support from both the Verden/Osterholz Police Inspectorate and the Bremen Police. The investigators planned a staged money handover for January 7, 2025.

On the agreed day, two men from Bremen, aged 31 and 38, appeared at the 81-year-old's place to pick up the money as supposedly agreed. The task force surprised the two suspects, arrested them on the spot and simultaneously searched their apartments in Bremen. In the process, the investigators secured digital traces and money.

The Hanover Public Prosecutor's Office then issued arrest warrants against the two suspects, who are believed to have repeatedly and alternately called the elderly woman. The Hanover District Court granted the application, and the men were taken into pre-trial detention.

The investigations into these two cases are ongoing. Whether the two arrested are considered for further crimes and there are connections to other cases is being examined.

To protect yourself from fraudsters posing as police officers, it is important to be vigilant and observe certain precautions and pass on the information to relatives as well as friends and acquaintances:

Further information on protection against fraud and other crime phenomena can be found at https://www.polizei-beratung.de/themen-und-tipps. /ms, nash

For any queries, please contact:

Hanover Police Directorate
Marcus Schmieder
Phone: 0511 109-1040
Email: pressestelle@pd-h.polizei.niedersachsen.de
https://www.pd-h.polizei-nds.de

Original content from: Hanover Police Directorate, transmitted by news aktuell