Through Thomas Lapointe
Published on
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Thursday, June 17, 2021, four men who were referred, are summoned before the criminal court of Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) to be judged there. They are accused of the counts of smuggling and organized smuggling of prohibited goods, aggravated money laundering, participation in a criminal association with a view to preparing a crime punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment and the execution of hidden work.
Four implicated
The facts started on July 17, 2020 with the establishment of a surveillance system by customs at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport. A device which “made it possible to bring to light the exchange of gold bar weighing 1 kg and worth 53,399 euros in the enclosure of the airport shortly before it is exported by a passenger on a commercial flight bound for Dubai ”, indicates the public prosecutor of Bobigny.
The ingot in question was seized and an investigation continued, entrusted to the border police (PAF) of Roissy. The investigation made it possible to identify the four implicated. To start with the sponsor 45 years old. Unknown to the police until then, he is the organizer of this illegal gold trade activity. “He was usually in possession of several kilos of gold and was waiting for the reopening of the borders to organize new exports,” argues the prosecution.
Two gold smelters were also arrested. The first, aged 39, was an undeclared goldsmith. He melted gold in his workshop in the 18th arrondissement of Paris before reselling the precious material to be sent to Dubai.
Jewelry and 72,000 euros seized
The second founder, ten years his senior, is unfavorably known to the police: he was sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment for concealment of theft of gold. Not declared either, he carried on his goldsmith’s activity, in a garage in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine. “The two gold founders worked together but the second had no connection with the sponsor,” said the prosecution.
Finally, the last individual would be the store manager welcoming the Parisian workshop, that of the first founder. An “activity from which he made a profit and in which he participated by putting clients in touch with the goldsmith”.
The four accomplices were arrested and taken into police custody. During the searches, the police seized a “large number” of mobile phones, jewelry, goldsmith’s material in sweatshops, as well as 72,000 euros in cash.
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