Scammer convinced victim from Monte Azul Paulista, SP, to transfer R$5,400 and 'choose alliances'

A woman from Monte Azul Paulista (SP) contacted the Civil Police on Friday (6) to report that she was also a victim of agricultural engineer Fernando Vasco Fernandes, aged 38, and transferred R$5,400 during the period they were together, between June and October this year.

To the police, the victim said that, on one of the occasions, Fernando asked her to go to a jewelry store in a shopping mall in Ribeirão Preto (SP) to choose engagement rings.

According to delegate Flávio Tavares, the case is being investigated as embezzlement. At least five women have already contacted the police with similar reports against the agricultural engineer.

"He induced the victim to transfer money to his account, with the intention of, according to him, buying engagement rings. The individual claimed to be the owner of three farms, administrator of three farms, making the victim believe that he was well off, but he was misleading," he says.

The first complaints from women against Fernando came to light at the beginning of this week and, since then, he has not been located and no lawyer representing him has been found to speak about the matter.

This week, EPTV, a TV Globo affiliate, was at an address linked to the engineer in Sertãozinho (SP), but he was not there.

To g1, Flávio Tavares informed that he will launch a police investigation to investigate the case. According to him, it is possible to observe that Fernando has the same way of acting with all the women who reported him.

"He uses an emotional bond with the victim to mislead her and obtain this undue financial advantage."

Until the last update of this report, there was no preventive arrest warrant against Fernando, but the police chief said he will analyze the possibility.

EPTV heard from two more female victims of Fernando. One of them, from Ribeirão Preto (SP), states that she lost R$26 thousand, and the other, from Marília (SP), said she lost R$30 thousand.

They all explained that the relationships began with demonstrations of affection, compliments and plans to get married and have children and then came requests for money, promises to pay and threats during collections.

Fernando met the women through a dating app and, after they became emotionally involved, he started asking for money under the pretexts of having been robbed, being sick or having his bank account blocked.

The engineer always promised to return the amount borrowed, something that never happened.

In one of the cases, the victim said that he would go to the police to make a complaint, to which he replied that he would not be arrested, because he is 'graduated' and that, if he were, he would be entitled to a 'special cell'.

The aforementioned benefit is no longer valid for those with a diploma. In 2023, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided that special prison for people with higher education is incompatible with the Constitution.