Mittlerweile haben sich weit über 100 weitere Geschädigte bei der Polizei in Hagen gemeldet. Da möglicherweise gezielt in Deutschland lebende Amerikaner als Kunden angesprochen wurden, sprechen wir diese möglichen Betrugsopfer gezielt mit dem nachfolgenden Text an:
Dog raid in Siegen
The ball was set rolling in September 2016 in Hagen by a complaint of an infringement against the Animal Protection Law. Organised structures became evident and the Commissioner’s Office for Organised Crime in Hagen assumed the investigations under the code EG (investigation team) Chip. In doing so, the police officials concentrated on a family from Siegen Kreuztal, who were supplied with puppies from Poland and Ukraine. By means of false documents and vaccination certificates they gave the impression that they were selling pure-bred dogs from renowned German breeds. More than 200 cases of fraud came to light and are now being processed.
In the course of the large-scale search at the premises of the Siegen family on 14 December, the officials and veterinarians found frightful conditions. 105 dogs – in part injured or sick – were confiscated, received medical treatment and then were distributed to installations in North Rhine Westphalia and Hesse. The animals were existing under hardly conceivable and catastrophic hygienic conditions and there were even dead animals lying all over the premises and in the house.
In total, the police officers executed four arrest warrants against members of the family at the age of 22, 25, 47 and 65 years. The performance of another arrest warrant against a female veterinarian from the adjacent state of Hesse was suspended.
Since the accused persons operated under various names, they met their customers at meeting points and then drove to their premises, so that the damaged parties frequently did not know any address. Therefore a photograph of the entrance gate is to assist in remembering the location.
The accused persons attempted in a targeted manner to win Americans living in Germany as purchasers. For this purpose, they used a page operated on Facebook under the name “Ella‘s Puppy Finding Service“.
The police in Hagen have established the following e-mail address which other persons who suffered damage can contact in order to report their availability and give a short description of the facts: chip.hagen@polizei.nrw.de.
Photos: Polizei / Police Hagen
