Eight people were arrested in France and Israel. They are accused of being behind the biggest “presidential scam” in France.
In total, those arrested are suspected of having laundered more than 38 million euros with a “president scam”. This scam consists in usurping the identity of the manager of a company and then convincing an employee to make a transfer.
In this case, six suspects were arrested in France in June 2022 and last January. They were left free without prosecution at this stage, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. Regarding the two arrests in Israel, no extradition request has been made at this stage, according to a source familiar with the matter.
3.9 million euros in criminal assets were seized, including 700,000 euros in cryptocurrency thanks to the Command of the Gendarmerie in cyberspace (ComCyberGend).
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The facts date from 2021. In December, the accountant of the Parisian real estate developer Sefri-Cine received a call from a man posing as a lawyer from a large firm. At the end of the line, the scammer pretends “ a confidential company takeover operation “planned with the agreement of the president of the company, explained to AFP the commissioner Vincent Kozierow, head of the Squad of the frauds with the means of payment (BFMP) of the Parisian judicial police. And for more credibility, the scammers have doubled the call with an email impersonating the CEO who confirms the transfer request.
More than 40 transfers, for an amount of more than 38 million euros, have been carried out in this way. Shortly after, investigators linked this case with another scam in eastern France. For the latter, 300,000 were diverted from a metallurgy firm.
During the investigation, opened for fraud in an organized gang and laundering of fraud in an organized gang, the police followed the financial flows in a good part of Europe. Thanks to significant European cooperation, they were able to investigate in particular in Spain, Portugal, Croatia and Hungary, where the funds passed through various bank accounts opened under false identities and in the name of fictitious companies.
(With AFP)