The Paris prosecution announced on Friday that it was investigating “massive” partial unemployment fraud, involving “international financial flows”, which caused “more than 1.7 million euros” of damage. The short-time working scheme has been put in place by the government to help companies affected by the economic repercussions of the coronavirus crisis.
According to initial investigations, "fraudulent claims for compensation were made by electronic declaration by usurping the company name and the SIRET identification number of existing companies which did not ask to benefit from partial activity grants," explains the prosecution in a press release.
International "criminal organization"
The latter seized Monday, under its national jurisdiction in the fight against organized crime of very great complexity, two investigations opened earlier by the prosecution of Toulouse and Limoges for "swindles organized gang benefits paid for employees in partial unemployment ”and“ organized gang laundering ”of these scams.
These investigations were launched "after the discovery of similarities between many requests for partial activity authorization filed by companies". According to a source familiar with the matter, the investigators suspect "a criminal organization of mounting fraud from abroad".
6 million euros blocked
"More than 1,740 fraudulent operations throughout the national territory in the name of 1,069 different companies requesting payments of funds to more than 170 different bank accounts" have already been identified, details the prosecution. More than 1.7 million euros were unduly paid by the Service and Payment Agency (ASP), responsible for managing, on behalf of the Ministry of Employment, compensation for partial activity.
However, "the payment of more than 6 million euros could be suspended as soon as the infringements were discovered," he said. "Many investigations, intended in particular to uncover the international financial flows resulting from these scams, remain to be carried out", underlines the parquet floor, observing that they required "a strong international cooperation".
7.8 million people affected in May
Upon confinement and to compensate for the resulting cessation of activity, the government widened the possibility of resorting to partial unemployment in France. According to the Ministry of Labor, 7.2 million French people were on partial unemployment one or more days a week in March, 8.7 million in April and 7.8 million in May.
At the end of June, the former Minister of Labor Muriel Pénicaud had indicated in Challenges that the first 3,000 checks on applications for partial unemployment had led to "850 suspected fraud" and four procedures for "scam".
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