Our colleague Nice-Matin headlined May 30, 2023 that an international arrest warrant has been issued in France against Paul De Bastos, once quite well known in the French community of Miami and who, at least, lived there some time ago (in an interview with Mail of the Americas last December he assured us that he was still residing near Miami).
If there had already been complaints against him in the North Dakota land case, it is this time for cheap house sales in Detroit (Michigan) that he is wanted. The people concerned in this case are suspected of having set up a “Ponzi pyramid”, in this case of having made French investors believe that they were receiving rent from houses they had bought and renovated, while ‘sometimes they weren’t landlords, that the houses had no tenants, and that the money they were getting was actually coming from new people who had been ripped off. The system would have lasted a few years, until one, or the other party (or both) walked away with all that was left (again, this is a summary of what they are charged with ). Note that Detroit is a very poor city, where there are many inexpensive houses.
Thus, the Nice company Antom Patrimoine, which managed client portfolios, went bankrupt at the start of 2020. At the time, the press spoke of “350 victims for a total of 50 million dollars”. The boss of the company, Sébastien Rogge, accused each other and Paul de Bastos of having embezzled the money; Mr. de Bastos having on his side lodged a complaint in Miami. Since then, investigations have progressed in parallel in France and the United States. On September 30, 2022, the SEC (organization which regulates commerce in the United States) filed a complaint against Paul De Bastos. This time, it was therefore an investigating judge from the JIRS (specialized interregional jurisdiction) of Marseille who issued an international arrest warrant against Paul De Bastos. Nice Matin evokes the possibility that he left for Dubai.
The newspaper writes: Sébastien Rogge, of Antom Patrimoine, who considers himself a victim of the actions of Paul De Bastos, has been indicted for fraud in an organized gang, fraudulent bankruptcy. He was imprisoned just like his brother. They pocketed nearly 10,000 euros in commission per house sold. »
Pour Me Xavier Nogueras, lawyer for a group of victims quoted by Nice-Matin: “By this international scam, the plaintiffs not only lost all their savings, but find themselves today, for some, in situations of great precariousness. They obviously hope for justice. »
About twenty defrauded investors have joined the ADV Detroit Immobilier association, chaired by Guillaume Flachon. Contact: [email protected]
Scams on cheap American houses and land, with promises of high rates of return on investment, have already claimed thousands of victims in France, Canada and elsewhere. And they continue today at least in other forms. However, voices are beginning to be raised in the French expatriate community for these actions to stop.
Some “investments” being made on small amounts, the victims realize later that legal costs in the USA would cost them much more. Scammers therefore have far fewer complaints against them than there are actually victims.
A website similar to Paul De Bastos’ “historical” site (whether it still belongs to him or whether it is a copy) is still online today, with a new URL, a telephone number in France, and displaying home prices in Detroit in euros.
In the same way as in France, let us remember, however, that people who have not been convicted must be presumed innocent.
Real estate in Detroit: complaint against a Frenchman from Florida by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)