The Mossos d’Esquadra have arrested Josep C., a 50-year-old man who arrived in Arenys de Mar (Maresme) 10 years ago. He began living in poverty and has ended up accused of continuous fraud. The detainee managed to integrate into the municipality’s social aid circuit and from there he went on to care for an elderly family. Little did the three grandparents suspect that this affable big man who had gained their trust would end up arrested for stealing more than 240,000 euros from them and deceiving them into selling his house.
Josep arrived in Arenys from Girona, as explained by close relatives, from where he left, leaving his wife and a daughter, to whom he did not receive any alimony. His mother never stopped looking for him until she found him, thanks to the mediation of the Ombudsman, who explains that her mother already warned them not to trust her in him. His parents traveled to the coastal town and stayed in a boarding house to see his son and convince him to return to his family, but they ended up giving up due to the repeated refusal of the now accused.
As La Vanguardia has learned, Josep had a normal life in Girona. He started working as a kitchen designer in Vilablareix and, according to what he himself told his acquaintances in Arenys, he had been hired in the graphic design department of the newspaper El Punt. However, for reasons that have not been revealed, he abandoned everything and left.
It is not known how it ended up in Maresme. Josep began living destitute, in a cabin that had been built in a wooded area, which he shared with a companion. He was a regular at the soup kitchen of the Capuchin friars, a community that does not preserve the anonymity of those who come to eat, shower or receive clean clothes. There he met several volunteers who detected that he was different “he had culture and good will.” There he came into contact with the Ombudsman, who helped him get out of misery and even found him a job.
Josep was not a typical homeless person, he was an educated, very affable person, who had helped many people in Arenys “on paperwork issues with the administrations” and had even “lent money to some of his friends.” Thanks to his skills, he soon found work caring for a family of three elderly people. He started helping the oldest boy shower and it didn’t take long for him to gain the trust of another brother and sister, who was the one who managed the family savings.
As the years passed, the elderly became more dependent on Josep, who helped them with housework and did their shopping. His trust reached such a point that they even gave him access to the checking account so he could withdraw the money they needed for household purchases. The two brothers died and the woman was left alone, although protected by a foundation.
The caregiver became essential, to the point of renting an apartment in the same building as the elderly woman, from whom he received a small monthly allowance. Furthermore, every month he took out small amounts without the family noticing, until he had stolen more than 240,000 euros, according to the Mossos d’Esquadra.
The alleged scammer managed to convince the old woman to hand over the ownership of her apartment to a third person, Ricardo P., who is also being investigated by the Mossos, in exchange for 6,000 euros in cash, which they never saw. They were also promised a life annuity of 500 euros per month, as bare property as long as they lived. However, the monthly rent did not materialize since a clause in the fine print prevented it from being paid.
The one who is now accused of fraud, Josep C. not only gained the trust of the elderly he cared for but of all the residents of the neighborhood. It was common to see him walking at dawn with his dog and then having coffee in a bar near the Plaza de Flos i Calcat, very close to Jaume Borrell Street where he lived, or eating in one of the town’s restaurants accompanied by his friends. he.
However, people related to the foundation that protected the old woman began to suspect the man’s actions, who also perceived how distrust was spreading among some residents of the town. Seeing himself almost trapped, he simulated a suicide attempt, for which he was admitted to the Psychiatry department of the Mataró Hospital. From there, he was discharged, but he never returned to Arenys de Mar. His friends, worried, tried to look for him until someone showed them a photograph of Josep, sitting on a bench in Barcelona. There he was precisely identified by the Mossos d’Esquadra.
but he tried to disappear in greater Barcelona. But fate wanted him to be located by a neighbor and report it to the same police where his friends had reported his disappearance.
Josep did not respond to the desperate calls from his friends, but it was the Mossos who found him. With the information that the investigators collected, after calling several witnesses to testify, on November 14 he was arrested and placed at the disposal of the Arenys de Mar investigative court on duty. Much to the displeasure of the Catalan police officers who handled the case, the person accused of continuous fraud was released with charges, despite the obvious risk of flight that had become evident during the investigation.
