Damage estimated at nearly 150,000 euros between 2018 and 2023. A former resident of Yvelines, who now lives in Chambray-lès-Tours (Indre-et-Loire), has an appointment in court on December 13 to respond acts of fraud and attempted fraud relating to undue requests for unemployment benefits from several employees, particularly those domiciled in the Élancourt sector.
The origin of the investigation dates back to March 2023, when Pôle emploi (now France Travail) contacted the financial brigade after noticing irregularities. Police officers from the Underground Economy group identify a suspect, already known to their services, who issues false employment certificates for 25 employees through two fictitious companies. The final objective is to obtain social benefits and compensation from Pôle emploi and other administrations.
In the process, investigators located the new home of the suspect who, released from prison after serving a sentence for comparable crimes, settled 200 km further south, near Tours (Indre-et-Loire). The police officers from the financial brigade, with the help of a gendarmerie surveillance and intervention squad (PSIG), decided to carry out an arrest operation in the pavilion, and during this search seized numerous documents that could serve as evidence.
According to investigators, the money would have made it possible to finance the daily lives of the suspect and his partner, without legal income, in particular by obtaining vehicle and housing rental contracts. The man, described as a “seasoned offender”, admitted the facts but did not elaborate further on his fraudulent activities. Aged 39, he had also taken care beforehand to organize his insolvency in order to avoid seizures.
After two days in police custody, the individual was brought forward to be tried in immediate appearance but the hearing was finally postponed until December 13. In the meantime, he has been placed under judicial supervision. As for the fake employees, who remained “evasive” about the sums paid to the mastermind of the group, they will subsequently be summoned to court for criminal orders.
