The Supreme Court commuted the sentence of a man convicted of internet fraud

The Supreme Court (STJ) has reduced the sentence given to a man who defrauded 20 people by selling gaming consoles online from six to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.

The decision, rendered on November 22, which Lusa read this Monday, partially upheld the appeal filed by the defendant.

The Western District Court of Lisbon sentenced the defendant to two and a half years’ imprisonment for each of the 20 crimes of qualified fraud with which he was accused, while the only sentence imposed on him was six years’ imprisonment in addition to the statutory penalty.

However, the advisory judges concluded that the accused could be punished for only one crime of qualified fraud because his conduct was “composed of repeated facts which, because they constitute a course of life, give unity to the action.” “.

Although the law allows for a suspended sentence of less than five years’ imprisonment, STJ chose not to do so because it understood that it could not be concluded that a mere conviction of the fact and the threat of imprisonment was an adequate punishment.

Proven facts indicate that in the period from 2018 to 2019, the defendant offered game consoles and games for sale on Internet pages intended for free advertising.

To give credibility to what he was advertising, the defendant included photographs of the above-mentioned items in the advertisement, giving the impression that he had them in stock and for sale.

According to the indictment, the parties concerned paid the agreed price by bank transfer to a bank account designated and owned by the defendant, but never received the items.

Thus, according to investigators, the defendant managed to embezzle just over three thousand euros.

The defendant has multiple suspended prison sentences and fines for crimes involving simple fraud and computer and communications fraud, and is currently serving a sentence of three years and two months in prison for sexual abuse of dependent minors.