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The Panevėžys Regional Court has dismissed an appeal by convicted Panevėžys resident Laurynas Slapinskas, who sought acquittal for defrauding a retail company and a private buyer. The Regional Court upheld the verdict of the court of first instance, which found the man guilty of fraud. The EUR 7,000 fine imposed on him remains in effect; however, the court adjusted the amount of damages awarded to the defrauded buyer.

According to the case file, the convict executed a pre-planned scheme aimed at securing an unlawful double financial benefit – recovering the money paid for the product while making an additional profit by selling it.

L. Slapinskas ordered a smartphone from an online store. To conceal his true identity, he placed the order under someone else's name and made the payment using a bank account opened under another person's name in a bank in the Republic of Malta.

After picking up the package from a parcel locker, the Panevėžys resident kept the original phone for himself and placed a completely different device inside the packaging. Then, in an attempt to fraudulently recover the money paid, he contacted the seller, stated his intent to return the item, and sent the box with the swapped contents back via courier.

The company's employees, who did not suspect fraud due to the undamaged appearance of the packaging, refunded more than EUR 1,244 to J. Slapinskas. The company only realized a crime had occurred later, when another customer who purchased the item noticed the discrepancy.

Continuing his criminal activity, the convict posted an advertisement on a classifieds portal for the phone and sold it to the victimized buyer for EUR 850.

In his appeal, J. Slapinskas claimed that his guilt was based purely on assumptions, noting that the victim failed to identify him in court and alleging that other individuals could have swapped the phone while it was in the company's warehouse.

The panel of judges completely rejected these arguments, noting that the circumstantial evidence collected in the case forms a consistent chain.

Guilt is fully corroborated by the fact that the phone number used during the crime operated on the same device used by the convict. Furthermore, it was established that he purchased services from the classifieds portal using his personal bank account, and the convict's surname appeared directly on the Maltese bank account statement.

"The convict executed the fraudulent mechanism as a coherent, chronologically planned chain of actions aimed at securing an unlawful double financial benefit – recovering the funds paid for the acquired phone and generating additional income by selling it," the panel of judges stated.

Expert findings also confirmed that the individual captured in the video footage near the parcel locker and the voice of the man who called regarding the return were likely those of the convict. The victim's inability to identify the face in court was deemed natural, given that the buyer's attention during the brief contact was focused on the item being purchased.

The court rejected a request by the convict's defense counsel to mitigate the EUR 7,000 fine imposed on L. Slapinskas on the grounds of his family situation or financial obligations. The panel of judges further highlighted that the crime had been meticulously planned in advance, involving the creation of a scheme specifically designed to conceal the identity of the perpetrator.

The convict will be required to pay EUR 1,248.24 in material damages to the victimized company.

However, the Regional Court amended the part of the verdict concerning the sum awarded to the victimized buyer. The lower court had awarded him EUR 600 while also returning the phone itself. The panel of judges ruled that in civil proceedings, compensation for damages cannot become a source of unjust enrichment. Since a functioning phone that retained its value was returned to the buyer, the material damages awarded for the temporary inability to use it were reduced to EUR 300.

The ruling of the Panevėžys Regional Court enters into force on the day of its pronouncement.

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