OSLO, Norway (AP) - An enterprising if unscrupulous Norwegian found a way to turn a tidy profit on Oslo real estate by renting out a nice apartment in a popular part of town.
What the renters didn't know was that he had broken in to someone else's apartment and then rented it out to 11 different people, the national news media reported Tuesday.
Police said the 29-year-old, whose name was withheld, admitted breaking in to the apartment, and posting photographs of it on an Internet real estate site, asking for a bargain $780 a month in rent.
Since such an apartment normally costs 35 percent more in Oslo, about 60 hopefuls flocked to the con man's showing.
Eleven were so eager that they each paid a $2,340 deposit for a total of $25,780 transferred to the swindler's bank account.
Ingrid Christensen, of the Oslo police, told Norway's largest newspaper, Verdens Gang, the money was found in the suspect's bank account and he would face fraud charges.
The real renter was traveling at the time of the showings, and has now changed all the locks.
What the renters didn't know was that he had broken in to someone else's apartment and then rented it out to 11 different people, the national news media reported Tuesday.
Police said the 29-year-old, whose name was withheld, admitted breaking in to the apartment, and posting photographs of it on an Internet real estate site, asking for a bargain $780 a month in rent.
Since such an apartment normally costs 35 percent more in Oslo, about 60 hopefuls flocked to the con man's showing.
Eleven were so eager that they each paid a $2,340 deposit for a total of $25,780 transferred to the swindler's bank account.
Ingrid Christensen, of the Oslo police, told Norway's largest newspaper, Verdens Gang, the money was found in the suspect's bank account and he would face fraud charges.
The real renter was traveling at the time of the showings, and has now changed all the locks.
Comment