Josiane, Arlette, Robert, Dominique, Raymonde, Monique, Odette… Reading the names of the victims leaves little doubt. The trio of defendants, two of whom, Riad and Samy, appear in the box, were only targeting the elderly to commit thefts by trickery. Tried at the Criminal Court of Créteil on Tuesday, they were sentenced to 4 years in prison, one of which was suspended, for Riad, 23 years old, three years including one suspended for Samy, 24 years old, and to two years, with simple suspension for the third.
“The investigators were able to trace 66 thefts, committed in Val-de-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Hauts-de-Seine and in Bouches-du-Rhône, between September 6, 2019 and January 19, 2020, recalls the president. The damage is assessed at 57,000 euros. The thinking head admitted to getting the idea while watching a crime show on TV!
Always the same scenario to approach the victims
The case started on September 19, 2019 in the lobby of a building in Charenton-le-Pont. A man in overalls, a red cap screwed to his head, approaches an old lady. Employed by the town hall, he must inspect the apartments for a water leak. Once in the house, he inspects under the kitchen sink and then the bathroom. He comes back to the kitchen and sows the elderly person who walks too slowly. When he arrives, the man opens the cabinet under the sink and shows him a puddle of water. The false worker explains then that it is a concern of joint to change. It will cost him 3.40 euros.
He cannot accept the cash and forces the occupant of the apartment to pay it with her credit card and that she can pay the bill via her cell phone. After several unsuccessful attempts, he asks her to pay with a check and then leaves the apartment supposedly to retrieve the seal in his van. After several minutes, the victim goes to his neighbor but the damage is done. The bogus employee left with his credit card and code he memorized and two gold bracelets. In the following two hours, he also took the opportunity to withdraw 900 euros in cash, in two installments, as evidenced by the video surveillance images of the banks.
The sumptuous lifestyle of the main defendant
Quickly, the police from the local police station looked into this case and found that similar facts in all respects had taken place in particular in Nogent-sur-Marne and Fontenay-sous-Bois the previous days.
By cross-checking the video surveillance images and the telephone numbers on the scene of the facts and cash withdrawals, the investigators identify the man with the red cap, Riad who systematically addresses future victims in the halls of buildings. Samy, his childhood friend, sometimes accompanied him as a driver. He participated in 28 facts. The third accomplice is none other than his cousin who accompanied him on five facts. The first two had already had to deal with justice for other thefts. Despite the establishment of telephone tapping, a fourth thief could not be identified.
“I was just playing poker, in casinos. I’m addicted to gambling and I needed the money, ”explains Riad to justify his behavior at the helm. “It was not that poker, moreover recalled the prosecutor during his requisitions. It is also the nights at the hotel, the prostitutes, the luxury cars… ”
A sumptuous lifestyle that pushes him to spin on the Côte d’Azur, especially in Antibes and Cannes, to be sure to find new victims with money. “We’re going to tear it up,” he explains to Samy, as the wiretaps reveal. They knew it. When we were with me, we would fly ”. He apologized at the hearing.
Samy who grew up in Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine) in the same district as Riad had followed him to pay off debts, a way to minimize his participation. As for the victims, none appeared at the hearing.
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