Robbery 'victims' locked up over scam
http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25856454-5014090,00.html
At a hostel near Copacabana Beach:
TWO young women have gone from sunning themselves on a world famous beach to languishing on the floor of a crowded jail cell after an alleged robbery scam backfired.
British law graduates Shanti Simone Andrews and Rebecca Claire Turner, both 23 and on a round-the-world holiday, were arrested early this week after going to Rio police to declare possessions worth about $2500 had been stolen on a bus ride from southern Brazil.
Police, suspicious that the women took three days to report the alleged theft and still had their passports, walked them back to their hostel near Copacabana beach.
There, a search of lockers turned up the mobile telephones and iPod the women said had been stolen.
15 years
Deja vu.
We had a guest who claimed jewelry worth € 20,000 had been stolen from her room.
We checked the electronic lock of the room. Nobody has opened it. The window was closed. The evildoer must have beamed himself in and out. :rolleyes:
Enjoy prison, Shanti and Rebecca.
15 years
We had a guest who claimed jewelry worth € 20,000 had been stolen from her room.
She expected the police to believe that she was traveling in hostels carrying €20,000 in jewlery? :confused:
We checked the electronic lock of the room. Nobody has opened it.
One of the great benefits of a key card system :)
15 years
She expected the police to believe that she was traveling in hostels carrying €20,000 in jewlery? :confused:
AFAIK, she didn´t even go to the police. She expected us to pay up.
One of the great benefits of a key card system :)
Exactly. Without that, it wouldn´t have been so easy to dismiss the story.
15 years
AFAIK, she didn´t even go to the police. She expected us to pay up.
Ridiculous :D
15 years
Deja vu.
We had a guest who claimed jewelry worth € 20,000 had been stolen from her room.
We checked the electronic lock of the room. Nobody has opened it. The window was closed. The evildoer must have beamed himself in and out. :rolleyes:
We had the EXACT same thing 18 months ago, our scammer checked in, went out, came back and claimed he had 5,000 euro in cash stolen.
Lock hadn't been opened, window locked...
13 years
Good luck to them in JAIL :) That was really naive....
And they had both just graduated from law school.
13 years
Just to close this thread:
They were sentenced to 16 months community service.
They appealed. They were let off on a technicality - the police did not have a warrant to search their room!
But it still took them 8 months to get out of Brazil!
Be warned!
13 years
They appealed. They were let off on a technicality - the police did not have a warrant to search their room!
Strange that a lack of a search warrant would be a problem since it wasn't techically their room or their locker. As long as the property owner (or business owner responsible for the property) gave the police permission to search the room, then a warrant shouldn't be necessary. Then again, I'm completely ignorant to the finer points of Brazilian law.
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