In the Canary Islands, a fraudster who rented out someone else's apartment was sentenced to prison.

In the Canary Islands, a court upheld the sentence of a fraudster who posed as the owner of an apartment. He received 3.5 years in prison, a fine of 1,080 euros, and must also return 690 euros to the defrauded woman, which he took for rent. In addition, he must pay her 500 euros for moral damages.

Earlier, a court in Santa Cruz de Tenerife had already found him guilty of fraud with aggravating circumstances. Now this verdict has been confirmed, as it turned out that the man had already been caught doing similar things three times.

In July 2023, this 40-year-old swindler pretended to be the owner of an apartment in La Laguna and contacted a woman who was looking for housing.

The victim's mother negotiated with the fraudster and, believing that he had the right to rent the apartment, transferred him a deposit of 450 euros.

A week later, she transferred another 240 euros to the account of his then-girlfriend. She was also initially accused, but later acquitted, as it was not proven that she was in collusion with her ex-boyfriend or profited from this money.

The fraudster filed an appeal, asking to replace the prison sentence with community service if he could not pay the fine.

But the court rejected the appeal, as the facts proved his guilt. Considering the fraudster's past "achievements," the court decided that prison was a fair punishment.

The request to replace the punishment was rejected because they were sure that he would still end up behind bars and would not be able to perform community service.

In 2022, he had already been convicted of three other cases of fraud – he was given several months in prison, fines, and ordered to be under supervision. At that time, he was given a two-year probationary period, but he violated it by committing this crime.