Credit scam: a million euros embezzled, more than 60 victims ... and a well-established network

Michael C. is rolling in gold, literally and figuratively.

This 50-year-old man is suspected of having, in Paris, for at least three years, set up a dispensary in which a dozen accomplices participated, who scammed at least 61 people and several credit organizations throughout France.

The amount of damage exceeds one million euros.

This heavyweight in the credit redemption scam was refused his release on Thursday March 4 by the chamber of instruction in Paris.

It was at the beginning of 2018 that the Sofinco credit organization filed a complaint for fraud, followed by Cetelem and Meilleurstaux.com, which very seriously bought back the debts.

These companies specializing in consumer credit complain about the actions of a group of criminals who deceive individuals who have already taken out a loan.

Thanks to client files retrieved from the Internet, telemarketers contact the victims.

"These people are put in confidence because their interlocutor has information on their previous credit", specifies a source close to the case.

The fake broker knows, for example, whether it was a question of financing the installation of a heat pump, solar panels or doing work in the bathroom.

The scammer offers to buy back this first loan with a ridiculously low rate.

The aigrefin takes care of everything and asks for the delivery of proof of address, identity documents and a bank identity statement before taking out a new loan.

The victims receive the funds which they transfer to the account of the bogus broker.

Result: the person ends up with two loans on his hands, the bogus broker has disappeared and the money has been transferred abroad.

Family work, apartment in the 16th century and large engine

The investigators of the brigade of repression of the astute delinquency (BRDA) are interested in Michael C. The fifty-year-old has set up a small family business and illegal.

He has several offices in Paris where he employs telemarketers including his two sons, aged 21 and 22.

The officials discover that this organization employs about ten people.

On March 3, 2020, the police arrested Michaël at his home in the very chic 16th arrondissement of Paris.

His sons are also arrested.

His partner and his parents are suspected of participating in the concealment of the fruits of his scams and will be indicted during a second wave of arrests.

"This mother whose daughter attends a private school and who goes on a vacation trip, ensures that the ends of the month are still difficult to make ends meet", quips a magistrate.

During searches, the police got their hands on 15,000 euros, hidden under the couple's mattress.

In total, officials seized more than 104,000 euros and luxury watches.

And for the record, Michaël C. drives a Porsche Macan, which is rented by his Belgian brokerage company.

He is the father of three children.

His criminal record as a repeat offender is heavy with six convictions handed down between 1999 and 2011 for fraud, money laundering, tax evasion and abuse of weakness.

Linked to two other notorious crooks

During hearings before the police and then before the examining magistrate, Michaël confesses and willingly takes on the role of head of the organization but poses a caveat.

“My client assures us that his activities lasted less than the police claim.

Consequently, he estimates that the damage would only be 500,000 euros and not several million as has been mentioned, ”explains his counsel, Me Marie-Cécile Nathan.

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Secondly, the police discover that he is linked to two other notorious crooks including Mehdi M., 34, a troubled multi-card character, currently behind bars for a scam selling advertising inserts to eight million euros.

“The latter sells gold to Michaël via a trading company for this precious metal,” specifies a second magistrate, but no trace of the ingots was found by the police.

The three men are also suspected of having tried to implement a system of fraud in public contracts on the basis of work to bring them up to ecological standards.

But the fifty-year-old denies any involvement in this aspect of the affair.

Justice kept him in prison.

Scams that "have the wind in their sails"

“This type of carambouille, like all the scams, are on the rise,” specifies a specialized magistrate.

Two factors are wreaking havoc: the delusional proposals of these bogus brokers who would even be able to lend money at negative rates.

And the Internet vector, a formidable tool that crooks master too well to develop their activities.

"

Since 2017, the number of scams has greatly increased throughout the Paris region, from 44,700 to 50,000 complaints between 2017 and 2020, with an increase of more than 13% between 2018 and 2019. Paris is on the highest step. the podium and it was in Essonne that the progression was strongest, including last year.

The Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR), responsible for monitoring this phenomenon has no figures to quantify it, but observes an industrialization of online fraud and notes that the authors are constantly adapting to current events.

“In the context of the health crisis, crooks can offer loans combining very attractive conditions (low interest rate, speed of subscription, lack of verification of the borrower's profile, etc.) to attract people meeting financial difficulties ”, explains the authority.

In 2020, it made 1,081 registrations, including 361 during the last quarter, on its blacklist of sites or entities offering, in France, loans, savings accounts, payment services or insurance contracts. without being authorized to do so.

Almost all of these fraudulent offers concern false loans or savings accounts and, for more than 40% of them, usurp the identity of an establishment or a financial intermediary duly authorized to market such products. in France or in Europe.

The response is organized

Several axes are possible to fight against crooks.

Credit companies should first be more vigilant.

“All financials are concerned.

But for them, it is an embarrassing subject and they avoid communicating both with the public but also with each other.

This phenomenon would benefit from being known to limit the damage ”, specifies Laurent Kocinski, specialist in the fight against credit fraud at CEO MEELO.

After spending fifteen years in the service of a credit organization, this entrepreneur has developed a system to verify the information provided by borrowers in real time to prevent companies from giving money to the bad guys.

The second axis is of course prevention and information for individuals.

The ACPR warns against "loans offered on very advantageous terms when interest rates are very low and constant, regardless of the amount borrowed and when repayment terms are particularly long".

Exceptional offer, without means test, without delay, are words that should put people on alert.

To protect against its scams, the authority urges consumers not to transmit their bank details and identity document by Internet or by email.

But also to verify the identity of pseudo-salespeople and the companies that employ them.

Long and complex investigations

In the Paris region, many police and gendarmerie services work on these networks.

"But a preliminary investigation, that is to say the fastest way under the direction of the prosecution with motivated investigators, takes at least two or three years because the financial investigations go through bank requisitions and verifications which are time-consuming, ”says a specialized prosecutor.

And finally, by the time of trial, the odds for the credit companies to get the money back from the crooks when they are finally convicted are close to nil.

It is for this reason that justice seizes all the property of criminals during these procedures.