Europol busts gang that tricked elderly men out of savings

A ROMANIAN crime gang accused of using young women to trick elderly Italian pensioners out of €1million (£850,000) in savings has been busted in an international police sting.

Europol said the network was mostly composed of members of one Romanian family and used young women hired as domestic workers to defraud men between the ages of 70 and 90.

The agency said one of the victims lost almost €20,000. Another suffered two heart attacks after a young woman secretly slipped him Valium so accomplices could rob his house.

The gang targeted elderly men who were isolated from their families, Europol alleged. The women usually began a physical relationship with the men, then asked for money, often on the pretext of needing it for health problems or to help a sick family member, the agency said. Some of the men were blackmailed if they refused.

Europol said the gang laundered the money through investments in real estate, cars and gold. Thirteen people were arrested, including four in Italy, two in Germany and seven in Romania.