The actor Robin Williams once said that divorce came from Latin and meant having a man’s testicles ripped out through his wallet; one man, at least, will agree with him. Read on!

A man had hired a lawyer, whom he trusted, to represent him in a divorce case. Trouble was that his legal representative neither practiced law nor carried out any procedures in the courts. Her (yes it was a woman) sole purpose was to enrich herself at the expense of the man going through the separation process, whom she managed to defraud out of around 40,000 euros.

She even convinced him that he was likely going to prison because of a domestic-violence complaint supposedly filed by his ex-wife – it was a lie and just another act of skulduggery to get more money out of him.

So, who is this nefarious woman – the supposed lawyer, not his wife? She is a 50-year-old Bolivian woman. And she can thank a real lawyer, who defended her, that she is not going to prison as she got just a 1-year suspended sentence as opposed to the seven years (five for the fraud and another two years for professional unlawful practice) plus a 3,600-euro fine, thanks to a plea deal.

This case, which dated back to 2020, was heard in a court in Valencia and ended with a plea deal which was accepted. The prison sentence will remain a suspended one for the next five years as long as she does not reoffend. She also has to return the money, with the first 10,000 euros in the next three months… or else. After that she has to pay 500 euros a month until it is all repaid.

So how did she manage to get that money out of him? Well, she initially quoted 2,250 euros. He made a down payment of 1,000 euros and later the remaining 1,250 euros. Seeing that it worked, she then asked for money for an appeals proceeding when she hadn’t even filed and initial lawsuit.

Seeing that he trusted her… she convinced him to invest in a car-rental business. In this way, she defrauded him of another 18,500 euros. The scam just kept adding up until the victim finally cut off the funds.

But the masterstroke came when, during subsequent meetings with the client, the fake lawyer made him believe that his divorce had become complicated because his ex-wife had reported him for domestic abuse. She told him he had one foot in prison already unless he paid another significant amount to prevent him from ending up behind bars. Thus, in October 2021, the victim paid her another 14,600 euros to avoid being imprisoned.

It wasn’t until April 2023 that the victim realised everything had been a scam. Growing suspicious of all the delays in the divorce process, he went to another lawyer specialising in family law. It was then that he discovered that the accused was not a practicing lawyer and that no divorce petition had ever been filed in the Torrelavega courts, as agreed.

(News: Valencia)

Keywords: Bogus Divorce Lawyer, Domestic Abuse, Invest, Car-Hire Firm, Bolivian Woman, Plea Deal, Suspended Sentence

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