On September 1, 2021, the Debrecen District Court pronounced a verdict in the case of the accused who pretended to be a police officer and blackmailed the victim in Hajdúsámson.
At the preparatory hearing, the prosecutor made a moderate motion regarding the content of the sentence – 3 years 6 months imprisonment – if the accused makes a confession and waives his right to a trial. The man in custody, in accordance with the indictment, admitted the commission of the crime and waived his right to a trial, which he accepted by court order.
According to the facts established by the court, the accused appeared on the afternoon of March 11, 2021, in a liquor store in Hajdúsámson. The man immediately went to the checkout, where he saw the seller talking to a buyer. The customer was not fully wearing the mask on her nose, and then when she saw the man, she thought he was checking the regular wearing of the mask in the store. The accused also took advantage of this situation and claimed that he was a police officer and then took out an object similar to a police ID. The man then called on the victim to hand over her ID, which the woman complied with, and then he asked her to go out with him to the store on the street.
In front of the shop, the accused informed the victim that the penalty for improper use of the mask would be an on-site fine of between HUF 40,000 and HUF 200,000. The buyer said that she did not have that much money, only 4,000 forints in her bag. The accused then announced that the fine would be 4,000 forints, and then they both went back to the store, while the man said not to tell anyone about this punishment inside. The victim handed over the money, then they went out in front of the store again, where the accused got on his bicycle with a blue flashing and police inscription and then left the scene.
The victim and the shop owner, thinking that the victim had been the victim of a scam, went after the accused. The man was also caught, after which the accused returned the illegally obtained cash to the victim. Based on the facts, the accused, by extraditing himself to a police officer, pretended to initiate formal proceedings and thus forced the victim to hand over the money.
The man was also found guilty by the court in a case of committing an earlier crime on December 24, 2020. Then the defendant advertised on an internet portal as his own for sale a row of acacia twigs in a wooded area owned by another man. The victim, who applied for the advertisement, based on the description, looked at the tree in the woods, then met the accused and agreed to pay him 80,000 forints. After handing over the money, the defendant said the wood could be removed from the scene and he left. The tree was no longer taken away because the victim learned that he had been the victim of fraud.
Judge Dr. Zsuzsa Süvöltős assessed as an aggravating circumstance during the reasoning of the judgment that the accused committed the crime with a criminal record and the sentence was suspended. At the same time, he took into account, as a mitigating circumstance, the fact that he had confessed and behaved in an abusive manner, and that he had to provide for the maintenance of a minor child.
The verdict was not final, it was noted by the prosecutor, but the man and his lawyer filed an appeal for relief.
Until the final conclusion of the second-instance proceedings, the district court released the accused, which was acknowledged by the prosecutor, the man and the defense counsel, thus becoming final. The case continues at the Debrecen General Court.
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