A gas fitter was arrested by the Guardia Civil in Armilla (Granada) suspected of swindling several victims out of their money.
He allegedly used the forged credentials of his previous employer’s company (a bona-fide company) to gain entrance in order to charge victims 300 euros for making adjustments to their Natural-Gas meters. He never gave a valid bill for his work.
The owner of the said company said that this ex-employee had severely damaged their reputation after several people complained to them.
For instance, a resident of Churriana de La Vega reported the incident to the Guardia Civil, explaining that the gas fitter had swindled him. The suspect had knocked on the door and claimed that he could “optimise” the setting of the dwelling’s gas meter, in order to reduce consumption so that gas bills would be cheaper.
When the ‘fitter’ finished the task (he removed the meter, fiddled with it and then fitted it back in place) he told the victim that he owed him 300 euros. The victim demanded a bill for the work and the suspect explained that he would receive it in a couple of days. After several days of waiting, no bill was forth coming, so he contacted the company. They told him that he had been swindled by an impostor, so the victim reported what had happened to the police.
The Guardia Civil received several such complaints and began to investigate, finally tracking down the suspect to Armilla and took him to the police station to be charged.
(News: Armilla, City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)