- Two men were presented to the examining magistrate and imprisoned on January 15 in Strasbourg for having attempted to scam an Alsatian entrepreneur.
- The latter had been "offered to buy 600 electric scooters for an amount of 1.8 million euros", announced this Wednesday the police.
- They were very well organized, the searches at their homes show that they had "the intention of reproducing their scheme", indicates the DIPJ of Strasbourg.
Two men were presented to the examining magistrate and imprisoned on January 15 in Strasbourg for having attempted to scam an Alsatian entrepreneur. The latter had been "offered to buy 600 electric scooters for an amount of 1.8 million euros", announced this Wednesday the police.
A transaction scam also known as a “RIP deal”, which has risen sharply in recent years. It is a scam involving large sums of money, for real estate or large quantities of goods.
See you in Brussels then Strasbourg
The latest victim to date is an Alsatian industrialist, contacted in June 2019 by "an investment company based in the United Kingdom which prompts him to purchase 600 scooters for 1.8 million euros", indicates to 20 Minutes on Commander Jean-Baptiste Larauza, communication officer at the interregional direction of the judicial police (DIPJ) of Strasbourg.
The head of the company, "in confidence after having consulted the false website of individuals which seemed completely real" first meets an intermediary in a restaurant in Brussels, then a second time in August in a hotel in Strasbourg to finalize the transaction.
Coarsely imitated banknotes
Except that that day, nothing goes as planned. "The intermediary, who had to pay a cash deposit of 200,000 euros in exchange for a 100,000 euros commission from the entrepreneur, shows him a briefcase filled with coarsely imitated tickets," said Major Larauza. Faced with the entrepreneur's doubts, the intermediary fled, leaving behind the case of counterfeit bills. It is this index that notably allowed investigators to arrest four individuals aged 20 to 27 years last week.
Three of them were indicted on Monday for “attempted fraud”, two were imprisoned and the third was placed under judicial supervision. The implication of the fourth, who designed the bogus website, was not demonstrated and he was released. "They were very well organized, the searches at their homes show that they intended to reproduce their scheme," said the police.
An arrest warrant was issued against the fifth member of the team, abroad when the arrests were carried out.
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- Strasbourg
- Justice
- scam
- Federal police
- Scooter