A 40-year-old man has been arrested by the Police on suspicion of having carried out at least six robberies on elderly persons, after knocking on their door on the pretext of selling tickets for a lottery.
The Police said in a statement that the robbed victims are aged between 52 and 95 years, and the thefts have been carried out in recent months in Mosta, Mġarr, Birkirkara and Mellieħa.
It resulted from investigations that the man used to knock on the doors of elderly persons’ residences and tell them he is raising funds for the missions or selling lottery tickets linked to the weekly lotto draw. At which point, when the elderly persons go inside to pay him, he ends up robbing them.
The Police stated that investigations continued yesterday morning, with officers identifying the man in Mellieħa and noting him knocking on the door of a residence which was opened by an elderly person. The man was immediately arrested and a search was later carried out at a residence in Ħaż-Żabbar, where some items linked to previous thefts were found.
Inspector Lydon Zammit, one of the investigating officers in this case, said the Police are not excluding that other similar thefts have been committed but not reported. “Our appeal is for anyone who might have been a victim, particularly elderly persons, and who in recent weeks opened their door to a person selling lottery tickets, without having reported the matter to the Police, to call on helpline 119 or report the matter at the nearest Police station.”
The arrested man is being detained at Police General Headquarters for further investigation.