In her little shop with an old-fashioned frontage installed in front of the Barbusse covered market, in Levallois-Perret, customers call the shopkeeper by her first name and do not fail to ask for news, with a little word of support when they leave with their daily life or their TV program under the arm.
Charlotte, who has been here for 33 years, knows exactly who is buying what and regulars have their favorite magazines on hand.
So, when they learned of Charlotte's mishap from an article in Le Parisien, they decided to mobilize to help her.
They have created a Leetchi fund, via the Levallois Cœur Commerchant association and the Je suis de Levallois Facebook page.
This Tuesday afternoon, 24 people had already participated to the tune of 511 euros.
"I was told about it but I don't have Internet", admits the shy shopkeeper, who did not expect this initiative.
“Levallois is a village, I am very touched,” she continues.
"Even 600 euros per month, I won't be able to do it"
On May 21, the manager was the victim of what looks very much like a scam in sports betting.
She validated 36 tickets at 100 euros on a basketball match of the Turkish championship.
Except that when it came time to settle the bet, the two punters, who had already come to his business three times in a few days, probably to gain his trust, disappeared, claiming to go get money.
Too late to cancel the tickets since the match between the two Istanbul teams has already started.
Charlotte has obviously shown an excess of confidence and the Française des Jeux reminds traders in her network to be extremely vigilant regarding sports bets recorded in the minutes preceding the start of a meeting.
Still, the damage is done and Charlotte must herself pay the 3,600 euros, with a schedule of 600 euros per month proposed by the FDJ.
“But even 600 euros per month, I will not be able to do it.
I only sell newspapers and that does not work very well, ”underlines the shopkeeper, who saw this story“ as the beginning of the end of [her] business ”.
The manager nevertheless wrote to the municipality, in particular to obtain the video surveillance images and to try to identify the bettors who have disappeared in the wild.
The city ensures to follow this file and will plead the cause of Charlotte with the Française des jeux.
