The former treasurer of Kiabi was arrested by the judicial police, suspected of being at the origin of this fraud.
It’s a case worthy of the best thieves films. After several weeks of research, the judicial police arrested the former treasurer of Kiabi at Figari airport (Southern Corsica), leaving a private jet, on August 12. It must be said that the suspect was not very discreet, she regularly displayed her luxurious life on social networks and the equivalent of 500,000 euros of jewelry and luxury clothing were found in her luggage.
According to information revealed by franceinfothe thirty-nine-year-old woman used the “bounce account” method to steal 100 million euros from her employer. While she was treasurer of the brand, she advised Kiabi to invest 100 million euros in an overseas account in order to quickly obtain high interest. The account is opened in July 2023, but a year later, when Kiabi wants to recoup this investment, the money is gone. The suspect left the company to settle in Miami and join a group specializing in luxury.
A complaint quickly filed
As soon as the “low-cost” clothing brand became aware of the deception, a complaint was filed and an investigation was opened by the central office for major financial crimes (OCRGDF). According to initial information, the former treasurer opened the bank account by usurping the identity of a senior manager of the company. She was also sentenced by the Paris criminal court to two years in prison for a fraud involving nearly 800,000 euros from another company, just a few weeks before transferring the 100 million euros. A conviction that Kiabi did not know.
It was by following her adventures on social networks, first in Mykonos (Greece) then in Corsica, that investigators found the trace of the suspect. Arrested, she was placed in police custody, then brought back to Paris where an investigating judge placed her under investigation for “fraud and money laundering in an organized gang”, the investigators not believing that she could have acted alone. She was then placed in pre-trial detention while the investigation continued and the astronomical sum was found.
Concerning the economic situation of Kiabi, the brand wants to be reassuring. Although the stolen amount represents around 4% of its turnover (2.2 billion euros in 2023), the brand ensures that it will do everything to “obtain recovery of the fraud”, while specifying that this “does not in no way calls into question its financial solidity and has no impact on the maintenance of its annual trajectory.”