When someone in your extended family is a felon.

Yesterday evening, I was informed, that my second cousin on my mothers side, has been remanded into custody pending fraud charges. He scammed some elderly people for a pretty huge amount, and the custody is until the 23rd of December, and after that he goes to trial.

Now let me be clear: I hate criminals - even if it's a part of my extended family. Growing up with the guy, he was not the kind of person, I would EVER suspect of growing up to be involved in this sort of situation. At all. But I should have seen it coming, because about eight years ago, he was arrested for stealing a car. We were, of course, VERY disappointed in him, which we told him. The following years, it escalated into being involved with the wrong crowd. I had conversations with him regarding that, and he told me, that he was in the process of turning his life around, but it was hard. It all culminated in an assault at a soccer match last year. He didn't do the assault, but his friend did. Who did that friend assault? My brother. Naturally, my brother lashed out, and once my second cousin came back from buying beer (they were spectators, not playing), my brother told my second cousin what had happened. This is where my second cousin made the ultimate betrayal, in my eyes: He believed his friend over my brother. His family. It all ended with a trial, where my brother ended up winning the case. Since then, my second cousin has not been welcome at all to any family gatherings. I suspect he will not be welcome at all now. In my family, once you are just the least bit involved with ANY crime what so ever, from shoplifting to fraud, you are out. We are very welcoming, but if you mess up, you are out. Completely. What makes it worse, is that my second cousins mother lives in the apartment below where I live, making it VERY awkward, because she is the only person supporting him at the moment.

I really hope he gets punished to the fullest extend of the law. Unfortunately, the laws in Denmark are VERY soft. Fraud triggers a max sentence of a year and six months. Severe cases of fraud triggers eight years. Life in prison here is 12 years. It makes no sense, but I am not a law maker. I just wish the sentences were longer.

The next family reunion will be VERY awkward.
Post Comment

Comments (1)

We all have some bad eggs in the family basket Phil, that's just the way life is.. there are a some people who are straight up criminals, and there are people who are goody to shoe people that throw down criminal actions to..
Better just to keep your distance from the criminals even the christian ones, and try not take in to much gossip from other family members about others; judge people by your own personal experiences with them, not on the word of others..
Post Comment - Let others know what you think about this Blog.
Meet the Author of this Blog
Philipsenonline today!

Philipsen

Vallensbæk, Zealand, Denmark

Well not the LITERAL end of the World.

So.. Who am I? Well, my name is Danny, and I live in Denmark. I am a down to earth, carefree guy, who loves the small things in life. I am a fan of well crafted stories, and old movies. The Godfather is the [read more]