Opening in Nancy of the trial of 11 men for the theft of 38 kilos of gold

Europe1.fr with AFP // Credits: Loic Venance/AFP 11:00 p.m., March 25, 2024

The trial of eleven men tried for aggravated theft, in particular the robbery of a goldsmith company for loot exceeding a million euros, opened Monday before the Meurthe-et-Moselle Assize Court, in the absence of the presumed mastermind of the network. Nine accused are present, four appear detained. Some face 20 years in prison, others risk life in prison if they repeat the offense. Aged 25 to 52, they are accused of theft and attempted theft in 2019 in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, including the robbery of the Losange company in Châtillon-le-Duc (Doubs).

On May 3, 2019, around 5:30 a.m., five gloved, hooded individuals armed with a pistol, a shotgun and an assault rifle entered the premises of this company specializing in the design and jewelry manufacturing for renowned jewelers. The criminals had stolen 38 kilos of gold, in the form of chips, bars, parts and profiles machined or being finished, for a total amount of 1.08 million euros. Six employees were present that morning, a hostage situation which left them in a state of shock, with total incapacity for work of between two and ten days. They became civil parties to the trial.

The gold was never found

The investigation, which began with the robbery of this company, revealed preparatory acts and a first theft, the burglary of the Besançon-Tarragnoz gendarmerie which occurred on the night of April 2 to 3, 2019. The investigations allowed us to reveal that there were close links between this burglary and the robbery of the Losange company: bulletproof vests and a flashlight, apparently stolen from the military, were found during the theft of precious metals, abandoned by criminals.

Certain members of the commando are also accused of having committed other acts of theft or attempt in a competing goldsmith company, Techniluxe, located in Voray-sur-L'Ognon (Haute-Saône) and in an optical store d'Afflelou, in Châtillon-Le-Duc, where they stole more than 165 pairs of glasses. At the opening of the proceedings Monday afternoon, two of the accused were missing. Sliman Founas, 35, whose fingerprint was allegedly found on a flashlight abandoned at Losange, fled after participating in the heist. Arrested on Algerian soil in December 2019, the 30-year-old, who was not extradited to France, was tried by the Oran criminal court for these facts and received 7 years in prison. France believes that it can try him for these same offenses.

His little brother, Lahouari Founas, whom the courts consider to be the brains of the commando, is largely absent from this trial. Initially placed in pre-trial detention, he was released by the Court of Cassation after his lawyer, Me Raphaël Chiche, argued that he was “detained without title”. The young man, apparently seriously ill, requested his release on medical grounds. The aggravating circumstance of an organized gang, initially retained, was dismissed at the end of the investigation, the investigators estimating that the team of robbers, essentially formed around the Founas brothers, belonged to a "family and friendly circle" and not of a “significant and hierarchical lasting structure”, definition of an organized gang. The trial is scheduled to last three weeks with a verdict expected on April 12.