They would have attempted to deceive an elderly woman with the aim of gaining possession of her assets, amounting to 3 million euros. This is the accusation made against two women by the District Prosecutor’s Office of Catania, arrested yesterday morning by the Flying Squad of the Etna State Police.
The officers executed a precautionary order issued by the investigating judge of Catania against Rita Catalano, a 65-year-old from Catania, subjected to custody in prison, and Venera Cosima Nicita, a 54-year-old lawyer from Santa Teresa di Riva, also under house arrest.
The investigations made it possible to acquire – according to the investigators’ theory – “serious circumstantial elements against the suspects”, for the crimes of circumvention of incompetent persons and attempted embezzlement, both in a multi-aggravated form. The investigations were activated by a report from officials of a banking institution in the Etna capital, who aired an alleged hypothesis of circumvention against one of their wealthy elderly clients, without children or close relatives. The investigation made it possible to understand the most important phases of the ongoing criminal activity carried out by the suspects in collaboration with other accomplices. The investigators identified the suspects, intent on carrying out a series of operations aimed at appropriating the victim’s assets, amounting to approximately 3 million euros. In particular, it would have been ascertained that Rita Catalano, a florist by profession, neighbor of the old woman, according to the accusatory hypothesis, assisted in some circumstances by her daughter – also under investigation – would have played the most important role, gaining the trust of the offended person, manipulating him, isolating him from the external context and making him completely dependent on her and her daughter. The flower girl had invited her not to have any contact, even by telephone, with relatives or strangers, except through her. It had in fact been made impossible for the elderly woman to even receive her correspondence, as the suspect herself had also invited the building’s doorman to deliver it exclusively to her.
In order to carry out the criminal project, professionals and technicians were used who assisted the woman, each with their own skills and knowledge of the sector, with the aim of collecting generous compensation. Among these – according to the prosecutor’s office – the lawyer Venera Cosima Nicita, with the task of taking care of the transfer of the financial assets of the injured person to a new credit institution, through the compliant intervention of a financial consultant, who is also currently under investigation. Equally fundamental was the contribution of a secretary from a notary’s office in Catania, subjected to the investigations who, thanks to the experience gained, suggested the easiest way to complete the criminal action, by having a special power of attorney drawn up in favor of the lawyer Nicita, a general one for Catalano, the transfer of a garage at a low price and a new will for the old woman, aimed at revoking the previous one.
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