Stuffed with cameras and microphones, with traceability of funds and an obligation of counterpart to the State, the Paris Elysée Club seemed to be safe from fraud ... After the disappearance of Parisian gaming circles, undermined by their links with the community, the he luxury establishment, located at 34, rue Marboeuf in the 8th arrondissement, was the first gaming club to open, with the blessing of the Ministry of the Interior, in April 2018. But almost two and a half years later the establishment, owner of the Tranchant group, one of the juggernauts of gambling, finds itself targeted by a judicial investigation opened by the financial section of the Paris prosecutor's office.
According to our information, four consultants from a company providing public relations services under contract with the Paris Elysée Club were indicted on September 10 for "money laundering in an organized group, illegal exercise of the banking profession and abuse. of social good ”.
The usurers, the Chinese and the Punto Banco
These consultants, designated by the police as “contributors” (of clients) are suspected of having set up a loan system at usurious interest rates.
Beneficiaries ?
Mainly players from the Chinese community, fans of Punto Banco, a card game originating in Mexico and inspired by baccarat.
At the heart of this fraudulent system, appears Tiny L., 56, a former figure in gaming circles, already known to the police for these practices.
The players had the opportunity to borrow money in cash from this attractive fifty-something, originally from Laos, and assisted by two other Asian consultants, all three indicted in this case.
Usury interest rates could go up to 10%, depending on the player's profile.
The strange family of Charif A., the service provider
In addition to her role as a creditor, Tiny L's mission was to attract and retain big players, often restaurateurs or Chinese business leaders from the northern suburbs of Paris.
"This clientele, sometimes addicting to table games, brews a lot of liquidity and hardly likes to use bank cards", specifies a regular at the Paris Elysée Club.
“On the tables, the sums at stake are colossal, sometimes tens of thousands of euros.
The Chinese players were reassured to meet between them in the presence of notables of the community.
"
At the head of the CHA, the service company under contract with the Paris Elysée Club, there is a certain Charif A., 43, also indicted.
Until then unknown to the police, this forty-something, described as always neat, is none other than the ex-brother-in-law of Marcel Francisci, the Corsican former owner of the Aviation club de France, a gambling circle liquidated in 2015 on suspicion of money laundering and tax evasion.
The Paris Elysées Club was the first gaming club in the capital to reopen, in 2018. LP / Olivier Corsan
According to the first elements of the investigation carried out by the Central Service of Races and Games (SCCJ), the company CHA seems to have organized the fraud without the knowledge of the gaming club.
Financial transactions between consultants and players were also done in the toilets, away from the cameras.
When contacted, Sébastien Tranchant, president of the Paris Elysée Club and general manager of the Tranchant group, said he was surprised.
“The names of these consultants are familiar to me, but we are totally foreign to the practices you mention.
Our establishment and our teams have always fully complied with the vigilance and traceability obligations imposed on us by law.
"
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The manager, at the head of 16 gaming establishments in France, considers the nature of the contract between the Paris Elysée Club and the CHA company: "clear and square".
“This is a company outside our group which has properly fulfilled its public relations mission.
His work was practiced with all communities, not just Chinese players.
Sébastien Tranchant, who has since denounced the contract binding him to the company CHA, does not intend to file a complaint for the moment.
“We must let justice do its work before reaching conclusions.
"
At Club Barrière, a dead man in the toilets
His suspicions of fraud and money laundering are not the first hitch since the establishment, on January 1, 2018, of a new legal framework around gambling in Paris, and the creation since of eight gambling clubs in the capital city.
Already last August, at the Club Barrière, located on the Champs-Elysées, a 49-year-old man lost his life after being punched in the carotid artery by a player.
The scene had taken place in the toilets, and the victim was known to the police ...
According to our information, the Barrière club is under the threat of an imminent administrative closure.
“The gambling situation in Paris is much healthier than before but incidents are still possible, observes a connoisseur of the gaming world.
Flaws are identified, they must now be resolved.
"
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