Thomas
(first name has been changed)
was an almost perfect banker.
Appreciated by his hierarchy, kind and outgoing, the professional based in Beauvais (Oise) had even invited his client to her wedding.
Flattered, Elisabeth
(the first name has been changed)
then politely refused.
“But this marriage, it was I who paid for it…”, regrets the octogenarian today.
Read also Scam: in Chantilly, the insurance broker siphoned off its clients
Because behind appearances, the thirty-something defrauded this 80-year-old lady of 104,000 euros, between 2017 and 2019, via fake life insurance contracts. This Tuesday, the Beauvais Criminal Court sentenced him to eighteen months suspended prison sentence and the obligation to reimburse the victim. For nearly two years, the young man had dangled his client with fine interests through life insurance policies that he took out in his own name. He then made him believe that his status as a financial advisor allowed him to obtain tax advantages. In exchange, Elisabeth gave her cash, from the savings left by her husband at the time of his death. To prove his good faith, the banker signed IOUs.
Except these insurance contracts were old forms from a previous insurance company he worked for. And these no longer had any value at the time of the facts. Thus, after meeting him and building confidence in his workplace, the swindler would go to the victim's house to carry out transactions. So in March 2017, she gave him a first sum of € 50,000. Others will follow until reaching the total of 104,000 € in 2019.
It is by calling the person whose name appears on the false contracts that Elisabeth will discover the deception.
"He told me that I could phone him, that he was in the directory," recounts the octogenarian at the helm.
Perhaps too confident, Thomas surely hadn't imagined the old lady would.
And yet.
On the phone, the man, a former colleague of the banker, explains to him that the contracts in question are no longer used ... On November 14, 2019, Elisabeth lodged a complaint.
"He inspired confidence but he abused my kindness"
The facts are quickly confirmed after the investigations carried out by the police investigators, in particular on the bank accounts of Thomas. The investigation reveals suspicious differences between his income and his lifestyle. “There are no current expenses,” emphasizes the president, Tania Moulin. This suggests that they could be financed by other resources. In this case, the savings of the retiree.
In police custody, the man fully acknowledges the facts. His motivation? Wanting to impress, thanks to the money, a work colleague whom he had fallen under the spell. According to his lawyer, Maître Domitille Risbourg, Thomas was overwhelmed by “the idea of living this double life” but “will do everything to reimburse” Elisabeth. What he has done so far to the tune of 11,000 euros. But the scam tastes bitter to the victim. "He inspired confidence but he abused my kindness," she regrets. Today, the thirty-something - absent at the trial - still owes 93,000 euros to his victim. He has since left his job at the bank for another in ... an insurance company.
