Luis Gerardo ‘N’, 28 years old and originally from Mérida, offered a pre-order system for Christmas baskets that he never delivered.
More than 40 families went to the San Diego Tixcacal ranch, where they cornered the swindler to demand the delivery of the baskets or a refund of their money, which totaled approximately 400,000 pesos.
Authorities returned the money to the elderly man, who had misplaced it the previous week. Dozens of other victims of this scheme also filed complaints in other towns and districts of Mérida.
After being rescued from the crowd, the man was arrested by investigators from the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP), in coordination with the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE), pursuant to an arrest warrant issued by a judge for the crime of generic fraud.
Each basket was valued at 5,610 pesos, which was paid for in weekly installments of 110 pesos from January to December.
The now-detained man had promised to deliver the baskets on December 22nd. However, he neither delivered the baskets nor returned the money, leading to 25 initial complaints being filed.
Subsequently, investigating agents and prosecutors located him, executed the arrest warrant, and brought him before a judge.
Source: milenio
