Emmanuel De Backer commands the Montpellier interministerial research group (GIR) specializing in the underground economy. The specialist delivers his analysis on seizures of dirty money in addition to the explanations of Emmanuel Dumas who heads the Departmental Security of Gard.
Since 2019, what is the evolution with regard to seizures of criminal assets in the Gard and in the region?
The Montpellier interministerial research group (GIR) saw its co-referrals significantly increase in the Gard and this is linked to the strong involvement of our service, each time demonstrating the existence of illegal financial circuits: drug trafficking, procuring , intra-community VAT fraud, concealed work, money laundering, trafficking in stolen vehicles, abuse of corporate assets, fraud, various financial crimes. For example, in 2019 the GIR seized for 6,185,132 €, in 2020 : 5,348,252 €, finally since the beginning of the year 2021 (January to March 2021): € 4,212,792.
How do you do it?
The GIR being a support unit for the investigation and investigators, it is an essential partner in charge of the financial aspect of a case (file independent of the rest of the procedure) which, finalized, will be submitted. to the survey director. In this file, there is in particular the patrimonial investigation (acquisition of movable property, real estate, bank accounts, life insurance …) then a cross-checking of the financial investigations which leads to the materialization of the directly related offenses (proceeds of the offense, instrument of the offense, seizure in value when the offense proceeds are greater than the assets held) or sometimes reveals new incriminations independent of the initial file (abuse of corporate assets, embezzlement of public funds, swindles, undeclared work). Using bank accounts, tracing financial flows, analyzing the set-up of a structure allowing money laundering, confronting the authors through technical – financial and precise hearings make it possible to develop a financial sub-file in order to shed light on the director of investigation and the magistrate in search of a broad vision of the illegal financial surface linked to the case.
The underground economy linked to drug trafficking was your hobbyhorse when creating GIRs, what are your areas of work in 2021?
Indeed, at the creation of the GIR in 2002, the raison d’être of such a structure was mainly to fight against the underground economy in particular linked to the trafficking of narcotics products, to identify “dirty money” drawn from this traffic. to seize the securities or movable or immovable property. However, drug trafficking did not have the exclusivity in terms of circulation of illicit financial flows, the GIR has adapted to a new crime by considering other crimes that generate funds. Fraud to social organizations and undeclared work in particular represent a large part of our activity and generate significant
hidden income. The assemblies are subtle and elaborate but do not escape the investigative techniques mastered by the staff of the GIR.
What is the point of freezing and then seizing the money of banditry?
Seizing money from banditry is becoming a major national issue, starting from the observation that only the main penalties would no longer suffice to weaken well-organized teams of delinquents. But, dispossessing them of everything that has been acquired illegally: well-stocked bank accounts, life insurance, vehicles, houses, boats … disrupts their daily lives. Indeed, confirmed by the magistrates, the confiscations of all illegally acquired property impoverish and weaken them in their criminal purpose.
Narcobanditism is very present in the Gard, how do you understand this specificity?
Faced with this organized crime in Nîmes, all the investigative mechanisms mastered by the GIR are implemented in order to fight effectively against narco-banditism. Alongside the investigation director and the commissioning magistrate, the GIR proposes, from a financial point of view, a real investigation strategy in which the investigative acts will be carried out, with relevance, with a view to quickly putting an end to the fruitful “trade”. but illegal of the protagonists.
Are the bandits smarter or faster today when it comes to dirty money financial circuits?
The bandits are not necessarily smarter or faster today but perhaps better surrounded, they taking care of committing the main offenses generating significant profits and other “professionals” in charge of laundering this famous dirty money. . Afterwards, at a more basic level of delinquency, not having elaborate structures, it becomes very complicated for traffickers to launder dirty money without being noticed. I am thinking of the famous external signs of wealth, extravagant spending, which, for some, is a guarantee of professional success in this environment without worrying about attracting the attention of the investigation services and particularly of the GIR.
Which state services do you work with?
With its interministerial environment, the GIR works, within its structure, with customs, public finances, the gendarmerie and the national police. More broadly, the unit has excellent contacts and interacts with the departmental directorate for the protection of populations (DDPP), the regional directorate for enterprises, competition, consumption, labor and employment (DIRECCTE) , URSSAF, the police and customs cooperation centers (CCPD), the fraud department of the Primary Health Insurance Fund (CPAM), the fraud department of the Family Allowance Fund (CAF), the police of air and borders (PAF), the tax control and research brigade (BCR), the national judicial customs service (SNDJ).
How do you manage to increase the performance of GIR?
The performance of the GIR increases when a scrupulous monitoring of new money laundering techniques is identified, a good knowledge of the crime pool in consultation with the various police and gendarmerie services controlling their population and local structures, the GIR is in charge of five departments (Hérault, Gard, Pyrénées-Orientales, Lozère, Aude). This synergy, boosted by regular contact with all State services, prosecutors and investigating magistrates working for the same purpose, with a very present craze to dispossess the offender, weaken him financially by seizing the property. furniture, real estate and all financial products acquired illegally, contributes with certainty to the increase of the performances of the GIR of Montpellier.
The Montpellier SRPJ at the forefront of seizures
Teams from the Montpellier regional judicial police service have developed and increased seizures within the framework of investigations. When a division discovers a financial dimension during an investigation, a specialized structure intervenes to specify the scope of economic offenses.
Within the criminal assets identification platform (Piac), these specialists verify, for example, the assets of a suspect involved in drug or car trafficking or scams, the Piac can activate and dissect everything. the assets of a suspect.
La Piac is made up of police officers and tax officials. In 2020, its teams (attached to the financial brigade headed by Commissioner Caroline Belda) seized 647,008 euros for the sector of the judicial court of Nîmes and 1,351,575 euros for cases falling within the territory of the Nîmes Court of Appeal (including Lozère and Vaucluse). Also in 2020, the SRPJa seized more than 6 million euros in all the departments where it operates (34, 66, 84, 30).
In 2019, the PJ 1,326,532 million euros on the remit of the TGI of Nimes: 1,326,532.00 euros and 221,097.00 euros for the TGI of Alès. For the Nîmes Court of Appeal, 1,941,712.00 euros were seized. Total of the Montpellier SRPJ for the year 2019: € 7,118,887.
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The SRPJ’s criminal assets identification platform seized more than 7 million euros in 2019.
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House of 300,000 euros confiscated by the criminal court
In a drug case revealed by the research section, a house worth over € 300,000 was confiscated by the Nîmes judges. In cases of tax or social fraud, the Nîmes public prosecutor’s office orders the blocking of bank or life insurance accounts.
This was the case recently for several health professionals suspected of having defrauded the Gard CPAM. Like this doctor, suspected of having defrauded the social organization. It was the subject of a seizure of more than 250,000 euros. A pharmacist was confiscated nearly 60,000 euros as part of an investigation where he is suspected of having falsely billed expensive drugs to the Social Security. The case is still ongoing.
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