At least six companies in Lanzarote, including printing companies, advertising agencies and carpentry shops, have reported to the National Police and the Civil Guard that they have been victims of a scam with a tool sharpening system by the same person. The victims claim they ended up paying figures ranging between 157 and 1,800 euros, totaling 4,800 euros paid among all of them. One of the complaints is already in the hands of the Investigating Court number 1 of Arrecife, which has opened proceedings.
La Voz de Lanzarote has had access to two of the complaints, one filed by an advertising printing company in Arrecife and another by an advertising and signage agency also located in the capital. The one presented by the latter company has also incorporated signatures from five other affected parties, including other printing companies and also carpentry shops.
In all cases, the complainants claim to have been scammed by a man, with the initials H.P., who offered them "a laser sharpening service for blades and tools with subsequent PVD titanium treatment" to "harden" them and "extend their lifespan by more than 50 times". According to them, he charged them different amounts of money without performing "any type of treatment", even "threatening" them.
He demanded payment of 2,400 euros from one of those affected
Regarding the complaint filed by an advertising agency with the Civil Guard, it is stated that H.P. went to the company on January 17 and that "as proof of the effectiveness of the treatment" he offered, "he performed a test with scissors", cutting "a sheet" with them. After that, the complainant arranged to meet this man at his private home and gave him "several new or recently sharpened tools to receive only a quote for the PVD titanium treatment". "He explained to me that he had to perform some material tests to know if he could proceed with the treatment and I told him to do the tests and give me a quote according to the volume of work as soon as he has everything analyzed", he states in the complaint.
However, on January 20, H.P. showed up at the complainant's home claiming that his father had had "an accident with children, that he is hospitalized and that he has to collect and leave urgently to Las Palmas". The amount he wanted to collect, according to the victim, was 2,400 euros. "I told him that I did not give him a work order and that I was prepared to pay a couple of hundred euros, but not that much", the manager of the advertising agency points out in the complaint, adding that, faced with this, H.P. reduced the amount "to 1,800". "I gave him 410 euros that I had at that moment and he convinced me to accompany him to the ATM to withdraw another 600. I told him that for the moment I could not pay more, but that if the work was good, I would pay him in a couple of weeks or do work for him in exchange", he relates.
Two days later, the complainant had "eight or nine missed calls" from H.P., who on January 23 returned to the complainant's house "requesting the remaining payment". "I repeated that I could not afford the payment, but that I would gladly do work for him in exchange and he commissioned me to design and print invoices and cards", he states in the complaint, to which he attaches the invoices for said work.
Recordings of the alleged scam in audio and video
In the following days, the manager of this advertising company did tests with the tools received, verifying that they were "immediately" damaged, so "suspecting that the titanium treatment had not been carried out correctly", he began to investigate "on Internet pages of companies that are dedicated to PVD coating", discovering that it was "evident that no treatment had been carried out". According to the complainant, the tools only had a "coating", which could be "removed simply with a fingernail".
"In order to have evidence about the alleged scam", the affected party met again with H.P. on January 29, "with a supposed client who witnessed his offer of titanium treatment", a conversation that "is recorded in audio". That same day, he handed him "the invoices and printed cards" and H.P. handed him the invoice "for the amount of 1,800 euros plus IGIC for the PVD titanium treatment".
On February 14, the complainant met again with H.P. at the Teleclub de Mácher "together with another supposed client and his wife", a meeting that was also "recorded in audio and video". "After making his presentation in which he again offered the titanium coating, I told him that the client was not a client, but a witness, and that the treatment offered and charged has not been carried out", the affected party points out in the complaint, in which he points out that "after a long conversation" in which he pointed out that they were "in a public place with surveillance cameras, he agreed to return the money collected", 1,010 euros for the supposed titanium treatment and 289.45 euros "for the work received as payment in kind", totaling "a total of 1,299.45 euros".
"As he had no possibility of making the payment on that same day, a delivery of tools was agreed as a deposit", it is indicated in the complaint, in which it is added that, "in the afternoon, in another meeting in Arrecife and under the supervision of a witness, he delivered 10 non-sharpened cutting discs of low residual value and signed a document in which he acknowledges the debt and delivers the tools as a deposit", a document that is also attached to the complaint. However, "on Monday, February 10, 2018, the date agreed for the payment and the return of the deposit, Mr. H.P. tells me by phone that he is not interested in proceeding with what was agreed, since I have no proof that he sold me a titanium treatment", adds the affected party who, faced with this, went to the Civil Guard to report it.
Alleged threats
In the complaint, the manager of the advertising company also states that he received "threats" from H.P. "He told me that he preferred to solve the remaining payment between us because it is better that his brother does not come", says the affected party, adding that on another occasion he told him that he was "gypsy and that he has a large family on the island".
In addition, he exposes the case of other affected parties, pointing out that "in the case of a client who can testify, he commented that his brother is very aggressive and that if he does not pay now, he will come". In another case, he adds, "he has threatened him with a knife, although he did not get to use it". And it is that, to this complaint, a list of other affected parties "willing to file a collective complaint" has been added. In total, another six people who claim to have been scammed by H.P. on different dates from 2015 to January 2018, among whom is the owner of an advertising printing company who has also reported the events, in this case to the National Police.
A complaint is already being processed by the Court
In this second complaint, the affected party also states that H.P. visited his company on January 17, telling him that he was dedicated to performing "a titanium treatment called PVD-Titanium and laser sharpening" to the type of material with which the complainant works. As H.P. was "so insistent", the owner of this company agreed to lend him certain material "so that he could perform a test at no cost", agreeing that "later they would meet to specify a budget and decide whether to carry out said treatment".
However, according to the complaint, H.P. reappeared at the company the next day "with the material he had taken, which he hands over covered in black paint" and demands that the owner "pay him the amount of 900 euros". The complainant states that he told him that he could not afford that payment and that, in addition, it was not the agreement they had reached, informing him that "he is not going to proceed to pay him because they had talked about a prior budget".
"If you don't pay me, my brother is going to come, who is not as friendly as I am", he says that H.P. blurted out, which made him feel "intimidated and frightened" because he believed "capable" that H.P. could "fulfill his threats, return to the company and harm" his workers, so he proceeded to pay him "only 350 euros" that the owner asked "a client" who was in the same business to "thus get H.P. to leave the company". Even so, the complainant states that he requested an invoice to "declare the money" and that H.P. told him "that he would bring it to him in a few moments, because he had it in the vehicle, leaving the place with the money delivered and without handing over the invoice". As for the "rest of the money, until reaching 900 euros", H.P. told him that "he would return to collect it in six months, when he has tested the material and verified its effectiveness".
A few days later, the owner of this advertising printing company realized that the material "had not" been treated "with any special material to favor its durability" and that "the only" thing that had been done was "to cover it with black paint to give the impression that it has been manipulated". Thus, he affirms that he realized that he had "been scammed and deceived" and communicated "telephonically" with H.P. "to request the money paid, H.P. refusing to such an extent", he reflects in the complaint, in which he states that he is "afraid" that H.P. will return to his workplace "and demand more money or commit any madness".
It is this complaint that, according to La Voz, is already being processed by the Investigating Court number 1 of Arrecife. According to an order dated March 1, the judge considers that the reported events could constitute a minor offense of fraud and threats.
Collection of signatures
Those affected by this "H.P. sharpener scam" as they themselves have dubbed it, have also started a collection of signatures through the change.org platform to ask citizens, whether they are victims or not, to give their support "if they believe that the authorities should intervene to stop this type of scam" and, if they are affected, to support "the complaint as a witness" or join "the collective complaint". For this, they have also created an email address, which is [email protected].
