The Brest judicial court judged, this Monday, November 18, a 35-year-old woman and her 37-year-old husband, of Romanian nationality. They were prosecuted for twenty-five acts of fraud and breach of trust committed mainly in the region of Morlaix, Brest as well as in other cities in France, between April 5, 2019 and December 27, 2019. Absent during a first trial, on January 15, 2024, and therefore judged in absentia, they were arrested in Romania, almost five years after the events, following a European arrest warrant issued against them.
Total damage of €86,000
The couple’s “stratagem is extremely effective and without qualms,” declared the public prosecutor. The spouses, in fact, contact individuals who put their cars up for sale on the Leboncoin site. Transactions are facilitated by a front company deceiving sellers reassured by a Siret number, a professional account and a company stamp. As soon as the check is rejected by the bank of this fictitious company, the vehicles are already resold.
The total amount of damage amounts to €86,000. In addition to the cars obtained according to this modus operandi, a boat and an accordion worth €600 are also inventoried.
“People wanted checks”
At the hearing, if the two defendants admitted twenty-five crimes, their explanations were sometimes questionable, particularly when the thirty-year-old maintained: “I offered cash for the purchase of the car but people wanted checks.” Furthermore, the two defendants relied on a third party whose name they had borrowed to Frenchify their front company. “You are hurting us but also your community,” one of the civil parties told them. Another victim, on disability, was upset by their fraudulent maneuvers depriving her of the sale price (€6,700) of her car adapted to her disability. The defendants tried to revalue themselves by promising to reimburse the damage caused.
In accordance with the prosecution's requisitions, the spouses were sentenced to 18 months in prison, nine of which were suspended for two years, a ban on trading in automobiles and an obligation to reimburse the civil parties. .
France
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