Police investigate extortion of Maribor teen

A year-nine primary school student from Maribor has been extorted to hand over at least €62,000 in family savings to a minor and an adult this year, a police investigation has found. The adult suspect is in custody.

Presenting their findings to reporters, Maribor police said the stolen money had not been recovered during two house searches conducted in Maribor and a car search in Celje, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

They said the two suspects, both foreign nationals residing in Maribor, used serious threats to extort money from the minor. They are suspected of attempting to extort another minor as well.

They allegedly used a fabricated debt as the excuse to get the ninth-grader, who knew them, into giving them the money, reportedly taken from the victim's family savings intended to build a new house.

The adult suspect, whom the newspaper Večer identified as a 20-year-old Kosovo national, remains in custody and faces between one and eight years in prison if convicted of extortion.

The minor suspect, who Večer says is a former classmate of the victim although he is two years his senior, is free due to legal protections for juveniles and proceedings for him will follow juvenile protocols.

According to Večer, the victim kept bringing them money that his family kept at home. Unofficially, the juvenile suspect became interested in his family's wealth when he noticed him with a new mobile phone, which the victim allegedly bought without his parents knowing about it.

"Extorting people for money or other goods or services is a serious crime and a cause for concern, which can be difficult even for adults to deal with, while children are especially vulnerable," said Stanko Vidovič, head of the Maribor crime investigators.

Children can be victims of various forms of extortion. In this case, it was physical extortion, but online extortion is increasingly common.

"It is necessary to talk openly with children, educate them about self-protection and assertiveness in relationships, while also equipping them with information about when and how they can seek help," Vidovič said. "We must also teach children to set boundaries both in real and online environments," he added.