They met on a dating app, meeticin November 2017. Manuel he described himself as a father “with values”. Amanda (false name), who noticed that they were both the same age, thought they looked alike. And they started chatting. They immediately went to whatsapp. And then they called each other. They talked every day. They met four or five times, always in train station cafeterias. Then Manuel walked away, with the €30,000 that Amanda had lent her. After begging him for months to return them, she denounced him for fraud.
Manuel and Amanda have seen each other again this Tuesday at the Court of Barcelona. They have barely looked at each other. During the time that has passed in front of the courtroom door they have occupied opposite ends of the corridor.
the version of him
Manuel has tried to suspend the trial alleging that the procedure aggravates the depression he suffers. But yesterday he was assessed by a forensic doctor who concluded that his psychological state did not justify a postponement and the judge, respecting the doctor’s opinion, has reasoned that attending to Manuel’s request and postponing the hearing would be pretending to know more than the sanitary. So, somewhat belatedly, he has started the trial. His statement lasted an hour. At the end of it, he has asked permission to go out into the hall. “I’m short of breath & rdquor ;, he assured.
According to his version of the facts, the affective relationship with Amanda coincided with a stage in which he lived beset by debt. He owed 10,000 euros to the Treasury and 12,000 more to the company for which he worked as a salesperson. “She offered to help me & rdquor ;, she has stressed her. Amanda left him 30,000 euros and he promised to return them as soon as she received “some commissions”. However, he was never paid the alleged fees and he was unable to repay the loan to Amanda. The relationship with Amanda ended due to a matter of “jealousy & rdquor ;, not because she was upset when she did not return the 30,000 euros, he has settled.
her version
Amanda thinks Manuel he pretended he was in love her. A few days after they met, he told her that she was a woman “only, exceptional& rdquor ;, that what was emerging between the two was something “special”. She has stated that Manuel used her talk to gain her trust and thus keep her money.
Manuel asked her for money even before they met in person. Appearing distressed over the phone, he begged her to leave him 460 euros for the child support. Despite the fact that he had identified himself as the wealthy commercial of a multinational, he suffered from a lack of liquidity at that moment and could not request any credit due to a problem with the Treasury, he explained. She lent him those 460 euros. A few days later, they saw each other for the first time.
“We meet at the train station bar. During the months that the relationship lasted, he did not stay with me anywhere other than the station cafeteria, such as the one in Barcelona or the one in Badalona”. Manuel promised him that they would make a travel together to Madrid after christmas. “I bought the tickets, excited, but when the date approached she made excuses, she said that she had a lot of work and that we could not go & rdquor ;.
As the weeks went by, Manuel, whom she saw as a good father, went on to tell her, visibly tormented, that he needed to fix things with his ex-wife and that, as soon as he could pay her what he owed her, he would get rid of it. the last “load” that prevented him from starting with Amanda the relationship they both wanted. “He knew that he had no children and he told me that he wanted me to have them with him & rdquor ;, she has explained to make it clear how far Manuel was able to go to get him to lower his guard. Her strategy worked, admits Amanda, who asked for two loans that totaled 30,000 euros and gave them to Manuel in the hope that this relationship, which did not go beyond dating at railway stations, would be activated. “The agreement was that he would return them to me right away. But he never did.” The relationship was also not activated.
three years in jail
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The prosecution considers that Manuel committed a continuing crime of fraud and asks for him a sentence of 3 years in prison. The private prosecution, which exercises Marius Roch On behalf of the victim, he requests that the sentence be 4 years. The scam that the woman suffered is serious because she left her “in bankruptcy & rdquor ;. The lawyer, in statements to this newspaper, also maintains that the real damage she suffered has been emotional. “When she asked him for the money, he replied that it was her fault that her son would only eat soup,” Roch remarks.
The judge of section 10 of the Barcelona Court must now decide who she believes. If Manuel, who has a record only for not paying child support to his ex-wife, or Amanda. If the romantic relationship that never left the train stations was real or just an imaginary platform that Manuel created to keep Amanda’s money. If Manuel is innocent or he is another sentimental swindler. One more.