Biro is what the police call in their jargon a “banking mule”.
This Mauritanian, aged 40, without papers, will have to answer next March before the Paris Criminal Court for acts of fraud, money laundering and forgery and use of forgery.
The forties was arrested in early December at his home in Noisy-le-Sec (Seine-Saint-Denis) by investigators from the fraud and means of payment brigade of the Paris judicial police.
This “mule” is suspected of having, in 2020, opened ten online accounts in “neobanks” for the benefit of scammers specializing in scams with false transfer orders, known as scams to the president. "It's a new trend in the world of scams," said a policeman. Criminals are increasingly using these banks to open bounce accounts. They exploit the fact that the anti-money laundering services there are not as efficient as those of traditional establishments. »
This is what Anne-Sophie Coulbois, head of the Central Office for the Suppression of Serious Financial Crime (OCRGDF), explains to us.
“Since 2018, scammers have increasingly used neobanks to open rebound accounts.
Criminals use what are called banking mules.
They are people paid to open bank accounts for scammers.”
A mysterious principal
Biro entered the radar of justice in January 2020 when the manager of the company "Jura solar energy", based in Poligny (Jura), filed a complaint. A hacker broke into his computer system before managing to transfer just under 15,000 euros to a bank account. The Jura gendarmes locate its holder in the Paris region and understand that everything was carried out with false documents and under the false name of an entrepreneur from the 20th arrondissement of Paris.
PJ investigators recognize the suspect's photo on the documents provided to the banks because he is already known to the police.
On December 7, in the early morning, the security forces surprised Biro at his home in rue René-Clément and placed him in police custody in Paris.
During the search, the police find a false identity card and a false check.
During his interrogation, the small hand of crooks confesses.
The forties concedes that for money, he opened ten different bank accounts with false papers, specifying that he was guided by a mysterious principal.
