In December 2020, the Nanterre public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation for organized gang money laundering, misuse of corporate assets and fraud “on the basis of information collected by the financial research and investigation brigade” which was investigating “a network acting through companies working in the energy saving sector”. 386 complaints from individuals were collected as part of this file, said the public prosecutor.
Heat pumps or water heaters
“Half a dozen people were indicted […] since 2020, several placed under judicial supervision and the main one of them in pre-trial detention for approximately six months, then under electronic surveillance for a year,” added the prosecution.
Since September, as part of a letter rogatory from the investigating judge in charge of this case, 78 victims have been heard by financial investigators. This allowed the research section of the Versailles gendarmerie to recently interview eight self-employed salespeople, “some in police custody, others in free interview,” indicated the prosecution.
The companies in question, specializing in the installation of heat pumps or water heaters, “approached individuals via salespeople” by promising them significant energy bonuses and encouraging them to take out credits in this regard, paid directly to the companies carrying out the work, detailed the gendarmerie. “A real trap then closed”: the equipment was installed as soon as the order form was signed, the promised aid was never paid and appeals proved impossible because the salespeople used a false identity and a fleeting telephone number.
