Twelve alleged members of two illegal immigration networks, one Ukrainian the other Moldovan, suspected of having embezzled more than 560,000 euros in allowances for asylum seekers, have been appearing before the Melun criminal court since Monday.
The defendants, tried for fraud in an organized gang and facilitating illegal entry and residence, are said to have brought to France, between 2019 and 2021, several dozen Moldovan and Ukrainian nationals with the aim of embezzling the allowance for asylum seekers. asylum (ADA) paid by the French Office for Immigration and Integration (Ofii).
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According to the investigation, the migrants would have been housed by the networks in different camps in Seine-et-Marne while they applied for asylum in the prefecture.
They then returned to their country of origin with financial compensation.
The defendants would then have benefited from their ADA for several months, i.e. approximately 400 euros per month per applicant.
The five defendants questioned on Monday explained to the court that they had only "
kept
" the ADA cards of compatriots who had returned home before their asylum applications were successful and "
helped
" others who had recently arrived in France. by converting their ADA payment cards into cash.
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“
My client has found a way around the fact that ADA cards no longer allow cash withdrawals.
We understand that this case could be harmful for future asylum seekers.
But there was no personal enrichment
, ”defended AFP Me Vera Goguidze, lawyer for Zinaïda B., a 37-year-old Ukrainian suspected of having been at the head of one of the sectors.
Several hundred asylum application files, ADA cards and certificates of delivery of ADA cards had been seized during the searches carried out at the homes of the defendants.
According to investigators from Ocriest (Central Office for the Suppression of Irregular Immigration and the Employment of Undocumented Foreigners), the damage would amount to 562,695 euros.
Amount disputed by the defendants' lawyers.
Part of the allowances was spent in France, the rest sent to Ukraine and Moldova by Western Union or MoneyGram transfer.
The trial is scheduled to continue until Thursday.