85 victims in France and Belgium and almost € 6 million in damage. This is a double-digit summary of the international scam that Nancy’s prosecutor, François Pérain, revealed the existence of on Tuesday at a press conference.
The business started in Alsace in 2017 when a resident of Sélestat filed a complaint after losing € 15,000 by placing her money, via the internet, on bogus investments in bitcoins, a virtual currency. It quickly became clear that she was not the only one to be tricked.
–
An “important society” and “a metropolis” among the victims
The scenario is almost always the same. The victims are contacted by telephone. Their interlocutor suggests that they invest in websites in bitcoins but also in diamonds or gold and shimmers in huge gains (between 5 and 35%).
“At first, the crooks reimburse the victims for their initial bet with pseudo capital gains in order to bait them and extract more money from them later,” said prosecutor Pérain. A Belgian was thus plucked by 500,000 €. In France, the biggest loss is € 100,000.
A “major society” and “a metropolis” are also among the victims of the network of crooks. With a different, more classic technique. The scammers have usurped the identity of suppliers in order to obtain payment of false invoices. This enabled them to divert € 3.2 million.
–
The Nancy prosecutor sums up the bitcoin and diamond scam that killed 85 people in France and Belgium.
–
“It can happen to anyone”
Individuals were robbed of a total of € 2.6 million. “Some have lost all their savings. Among the victims, we have all the profiles. It can happen to anyone. Because the crooks are really very clever and very strong on the phone. Many people are ashamed afterwards and do not file a complaint, “said Colonel Despres of the Strasbourg research section.
It was his unit which was responsible for the investigation under the leadership of an investigating judge of the specialized interregional jurisdiction (JIRS) of Nancy. This led in January 2019 to the arrest and indictment in France of four suspects, three of whom were imprisoned.
Seizures were made of bank accounts in France and Luxembourg, which made it possible to recover one million euros. This money will in principle be used to compensate the victims during the future trial. But it’s not for tomorrow.
–
The brain refugee in Israel
Because the investigation is still far from over. The scam’s brain is still running. He has been identified. He is a 45-year-old Franco-Israeli “already sentenced in 2012 by the Paris criminal court to a heavy prison sentence and a fine in the context of a spectacular fraud with the carbon tax”, reveals Prosecutor Pérain.
The man took refuge in Israel. Last December, on an international letter rogatory, he was interrogated by the Israeli police and four other suspects. He was then able to leave free. But an international arrest warrant and an extradition request should be issued against him by Nancy’s investigating judge. Will Israeli justice hand him over to France? Suspenseful. An Israeli police representative present at the press conference in Nancy refused to answer the question.
–
–
