Specialists in “theft from the social directory” and “fake police officers”, the young Hornec brothers return to prison. Mehdy, 22, and Giany, 25, were arrested on February 21 at Cateau-Cambrésis (North). Two days later, they were indicted in Valenciennes (North) before being imprisoned for criminal association and organized theft.
These two men live within their family clan in pavilions located in Claye-Souilly (Seine-et-Marne). Officially without profession, in front of the magistrates they call themselves roofer or pruner. But their core business is probably elsewhere. They are still in the crosshairs of justice in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) for having, between January 2020 and October 2021, stripped 34 elderly people by using trickery throughout the Paris region.
In the spring of 2022, the trio was released by the Versailles investigation chamber (Yvelines). Their very classic method, in this register, consists in locating the victims in the social directory. This is the directory of families belonging to the French upper middle class. The thieves begin by impersonating a pension fund agent or a plumber to break into their target’s home. Then fake police intervene to seize the values of the elderly, not hesitating to use force when necessary.
Fake commissioner worries about victim’s gold bullion
This is what happened at the end of the morning in Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes (North). It is 11:45 a.m. when an 84-year-old retired commercial court clerk receives a visit from a fake water official followed by two fake policemen. The imposters ask to visit the house and make fanciful findings. One of the criminals communicates by radio with an accomplice who pretends to be the commissioner. The authoritative voice asks if the gold bar has been recovered. The octogenarian assures that he only has a gold bar which is safe in his vault at Crédit Agricole in Valenciennes.
Around 1:30 p.m., they drove the victim to his bank in a black Mercedes. “The E-Class is falsely plated in perfect doublet with the registration number of a car spotted on Leboncoin.fr”, specifies a source close to the case. The old gentleman enters the agency alone to fetch his gold. Thieves are waiting for him on the street.
When he gets out, the former clerk refuses to ride with them and demands that the crooks call a real police car. The bandits are reluctant and want to get him into the Mercedes. The man decides to get to the bottom of it and walks to the police station. One of the bandits catches up to him and snatches his precious bag. The octogenarian falls, is injured and the thieves flee. Less than an hour later, the suspect vehicle, with four men on board, was spotted by the gendarmes in Orsinval (North).
Spotted and arrested by the gendarmes
At 3:30 p.m., the soldiers arrested the Hornec brothers as they left a property. The Mercedes is found abandoned on the edge of the forest. During the search, the police get their hands on a wave jammer. Valenciennes security investigators understand that these two men could have committed similar acts in La Capelle-lès-Boulogne (Pas-de-Calais).
During the hearings, the suspects who are still under judicial supervision in the Nanterre case, denied en bloc and tried to explain their presence in the north of France. Their two accomplices and the ingot have not been found.
