Despite a rich record of convictions and lengthy prison sentences of years, Bar Oved, the "generous air conditioner technician," does not return to his actions and returns to his old ways time and time again.
"These acts have caused elderly women to lose faith in people," the police prosecutor said just before the court sentenced a worker in his 45s to 40 months in prison for posing as an air conditioning technician and stealing thousands of shekels from elderly women in several separate cases.
According to the indictment in which an employee was convicted last August, his work method was based on locating elderly women whom he would lurk as they made their way home with heavy shopping baskets. A worker, posing as a gentleman, abused the trust of the old women and offered them help carrying the baskets, and did not despair even in cases where some refused until he managed to convince them.
Affection for money and diamonds
In one case, in which an employee was charged, he took the victim on a bus to her home, and after they arrived at their destination, introduced himself as an air conditioning technician and asked for a glass of water. He then took her purse, which contained 2,000 shekels, and then withdrew thousands of shekels from her account using her credit card. In another case, he approached a 71-year-old woman, and when he helped her with the shopping basket, he stole her purse containing thousands of shekels.
He did the same to two other 77-year-old women, whom he helped carry the shopping baskets to their homes, and when they didn't notice he carried their wallets. In the last case in which he was convicted, an 84-year-old woman refused to accept help from him, but he insisted until she complied. When they arrived at her house, he pulled out the story of the "air conditioner and renovation technician", and she was persuaded to show him repair and renovation work she would like to do at home. While she went to fetch a cloth from another room, an employee took two gold rings with diamonds and disappeared from the apartment.
Looking for easy prey
A representative of the police prosecution unit, Attorney Chen Amrani, said during the sentencing arguments that this was a serious case, in which the acts were among the ugliest that were committed. "These are ongoing incidents, in which the defendant could have retracted his actions, showed a little compassion for those elderly women, who were easy prey for him, but did not do so."
The lawyer also noted that the employee has six previous convictions in no less than 24 police cases involving multiple property offenses, violent offenses, robbery and violation of a legal order, possession of a knife and more.
Asking for the measure of mercy
"I want to correct the prosecutor who calls me an impostor," the defendant said before sentencing. I am not as you describe me, and I ask for mercy."
Despite his pleas, Judge Oded Moreno ruled that this was a case whose main gravity was the fact that the defendant chose to attack the weak elderly population, ambushed them at bus stops, ATMs, stores and on the street, and harmed the complainants both financially and their sense of security.
In addition to the months of actual imprisonment set for the employee, Judge Moreno ruled that he would pay compensation in the amount of NIS 22,500 to all the complainants combined.
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