A scammer has been operating in Reunion Island for some time. He takes on different faces, different roles, to extract money, mainly from women. He had even fooled associations by pretending to be a patient suffering from Charcot's disease, with supporting medical documents. Several complaints were filed against him. His victims testify.
Two months ago he appeared in several media and claimed to have Charcot's disease in order to obtain money from a leetchi fundraiser opened for his cause. This is not his first attempt and can take on the appearance of an investigating judge, a wholesaler, a lessor or even a real estate agent. At least 14 complaints were filed against him in several areas of the island. The scammer has already made many victims.
“About 6 months ago, I was looking for a house and was contacted following an Instagram post. I gave him 1300 euros. The money was in a Nickel account, as he had my passport, he was able to change my bank details and send himself 8700 euros. I filed a complaint 6 months ago, I'm still waiting for the investigator's call“, testifies Laëticia Perrez.
The young woman has hundreds of pages of evidence.
Céline was also a victim of this scammer, to date she has had no feedback on the investigation. “He sold catering products. I fell into the trap, we are talking about 4000 euros. I received a lot of messages from restaurateurs in the same situation“, explains the restaurateur.
The serial scammer has been operating all over the island for several months and regularly changes his identity. Valentin, Mathias or Martin, it was under one of these false names that he scammed Élodie. “I massaged the gentleman 4 times, the first at my office and the other times at his seasonal rental in Saint-Gilles. He paid me by direct transfer, but last time there was a bug in his banking application. I filed a complaint on Monday September 23, 2024“, says the masseuse.
The victims are determined to see the case through to the end, but many others have been discouraged.
