ALMERIA’S Fifth Criminal Court has handed down a 21 month prison sentence to a defendant found guilty of defrauding a bank account out of around €3,000 by stealing its information.
The court said while sentencing the 45-year-old woman that she had been motivated by a desire to get illicit benefits when fraudulently withdrawing the money from the bank. The fraud took place at a branch in Almeria City.
The defendant admitted to taking a letter she had found in a block of flats on the Puerta de Purchena with a customer’s bank details on it in September 2016.
She posed as the account holder and was able to withdraw the roughly €3,000. She tried again a week later but could not withdraw more money because the transaction was declined.
The court heard the woman had fraudulently taken money out of an account previously. She took more than €1,100 out of one account and attempted to take out a loan of €10,000 with a forged ID but was unable to.
The court has ordered the woman to pay €3,000 in damages to the bank on top of her prison sentence.
