ROME, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A reputed Rome crime gang allegedly cheated a man out of more than $67,000 by convincing him they could sell him the city's police headquarters, police said.
The gang -- busted and charged with fraud, loan sharking, money laundering and extortion -- also conned people into thinking they had bought the former homes of retired Italian soccer star Marcos Evangelista de Moraes, better known as Cafu, and Italian entrepreneur Sergio Cragnotti, best known for having been president of Rome's Lazio professional soccer team, police said.
Investigators said the gang convinced victims they had contacts in Rome's courts handling the auctions of foreclosed properties, then they swindled them of thousands of dollars with phony real estate deals, ANSA reported.
Besides the gang members, a lawyer and an accountant were also arrested for allegedly participating in the scam, the news agency said.
Victims were allegedly beaten and threatened with firearms to make them to pay extortionate interest rates on loans, police said.
UPI
