- A huge scam of fake investments on the Internet has been dismantled. It would have made 85 victims, in France and in Belgium.
- The damage is estimated at 6 million euros. A Frenchman is said to have lost 100,000 euros in the case.
- How did the criminals do it? They proposed to make a first investment, which they valued with capital gains, before claiming other bets ... without paying them off, of course.
The damage is enormous: 6 million euros. A scam with false investments in bitcoins, diamonds or gold, which killed 85 people in France and Belgium, has been dismantled thanks to international police cooperation, justice announced in Nancy on Wednesday.
"The operating method, which was particularly effective, consisted in proposing to victims, contacted by telephone, to make a first investment in bitcoins, diamonds or gold on false websites quickly revealing the promised capital gains, quite significant and substantial, between 5 % and 35% ”, detailed the public prosecutor in Nancy, François Pérain.
A well-honed system
To "bait", the perpetrators could "reimburse certain victims for their initial bet, increased by pseudo-gains or interests", he added during a press conference bringing together representatives of the French courts, Belgian and Israeli, Eurojust, the judicial cooperation unit of the European Union, and Europol, the European criminal police agency.
The French and Belgian victims were then contacted to carry out "more" interesting "operations, but which required much larger investments," said the prosecutor.
Frenchman reportedly lost 100,000 euros
The damage amounts to 6 million euros and, on the basis of false invoices discovered during the investigations, the investigators estimate "the damage avoided" to more than 8 million euros. Eighty-five victims, including 64 in France, have been identified, with losses of up to 100,000 euros for a Frenchman, 500,000 for a Belgian.
“There are people who have lost all their savings. It is sometimes the savings of a lifetime that went into the pockets of these crooks, "said Colonel François Després, commander of the Strasbourg research section, in charge of the investigation with the gendarmes of Metz.
"The victims' funds were transferred to" rebound "bank accounts opened in various European Union states before being quickly transferred to Asian or Turkish accounts," detailed the public prosecutor in Nancy.
Three people in pre-trial detention
The investigation had started with the complaint of a saver, in Sélestat (Bas-Rhin), who had lost 15,000 euros. Judicial information had been opened in the spring of 2018 by the specialized interregional jurisdiction (Jirs) of Nancy, then a joint Franco-Belgian investigation team had been created, with the support of Eurojust and Europol.
Four people, a man responsible for opening bank accounts and three operatives, were indicted in January 2019. Three of them are on remand. Seizures were carried out in France and Luxembourg for almost a million euros, which should make it possible to partially compensate the victims, according to the prosecutor.
Five suspects were interviewed in Israel, as part of an international letter rogatory. One of them, aged 45, "is suspected of being the originator of the scams in France and in Belgium," said François Pérain. This Franco-Israeli "was already sentenced in 2012 by the Paris criminal court to a heavy prison sentence and a fine in the context of a spectacular fraud in the carbon tax", detailed the prosecutor.
Investigations are continuing, arrest warrants could be issued, accompanied by possible extradition requests.
Justice
Mulhouse: Three men indicted for a traffic law scam
News
Haute-Garonne: Suspected of having defrauded his own mother of 120,000 euros
- Lorraine
- Belgium
- scam
- Nancy
- Bitcoin
- Justice
- Fraud