Caltanissetta police arrest 49-year-old over fake carabinieri gold fraud
Caltanissetta state police say a 49-year-old posed as a carabinieri marshal, told a couple their car plate had been cloned in a robbery and that a court official would collect their gold.
State police in Caltanissetta have arrested a 49-year-old man on suspicion of attempted fraud committed in concert, in a reported instance of the so-called fake carabinieri swindle. Regional media reports dated 3 October 2026, citing the Polizia di Stato, say the arrest was carried out in flagrante and that the man is also under investigation for impersonation, or sostituzione di persona.
According to the same police reconstruction, the man telephoned a couple the previous Thursday and identified himself as a carabinieri marshal. He told them that the number plate of the family car had been cloned and used to commit a robbery, and that an official from the Tribunale — the court — would arrive at their home to collect the gold jewellery they owned, ostensibly so that it could be compared with items taken in that robbery. He further instructed them never to interrupt the telephone call, asserting that keeping the line open was necessary; the excerpts available do not specify the purpose he gave.
One of the two accounts notes that the arrested man had prior police records. Attribution for this reconstruction rests with the state police as cited by the two regional outlets, rather than with a discrete statement issued on the same day. Neither account states whether any jewellery was handed over, whether the call was kept open, whether the alleged scheme involved a second person — the charge is fraud in concert — or how the man is currently held.
The man is described as being under investigation, and the reporting records no outcome in the case. No further details on the matter appear in the available material.