Buying on credit and closing the account: the plan that ends in jail
A young man buys appliances on credit and cancels his mother's bank account to avoid paying. Her 1,400-euro pension can be seized, and he could face up to six years in prison.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The fake genius who bought on credit and cancelled his mother's account
A young man buys a full kitchen package (hob, oven, washing machine, dishwasher, fridge, dryer) from El Corte Inglés without paying, confident that cancelling his mother's bank account would prevent seizure. Her 1,400-euro widow's pension, he figures, is untouchable. Wrong.
A 1,400-euro pension is above the Spanish minimum wage, so it can indeed be garnished. Financial institutions sell unpaid debts to collection agencies, which initiate payment claims and seizures. What's more, closing an account with frozen funds is not always possible, and doing it to dodge payment constitutes the offence of concealing assets (alzamiento de bienes), punishable by 3 to 6 years in prison. Commenters agree: far from being a genius, he is a reckless fool risking jail over a few appliances.
In the end, the only stroke of genius is thinking the law can be dodged with a simple bank cancellation. The reality: a debt growing with interest and legal costs, and a possible incivil prosecution. For whoever tried it, the joke will come at a high price.
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A young man buys a full kitchen package (hob, oven, washing machine, dishwasher, fridge, dryer) from El Corte Inglés without paying, confident that cancelling his mother's bank account would prevent seizure. Her 1,400-euro widow's pension, he figures, is untouchable. Wrong.
A 1,400-euro pension is above the Spanish minimum wage, so it can indeed be garnished. Financial institutions sell unpaid debts to collection agencies, which initiate payment claims and seizures. What's more, closing an account with frozen funds is not always possible, and doing it to dodge payment constitutes the offence of concealing assets (alzamiento de bienes), punishable by 3 to 6 years in prison. Commenters agree: far from being a genius, he is a reckless fool risking jail over a few appliances.
In the end, the only stroke of genius is thinking the law can be dodged with a simple bank cancellation. The reality: a debt growing with interest and legal costs, and a possible incivil prosecution. For whoever tried it, the joke will come at a high price.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (32 replies).
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