Sadri Fegaier in his offices in Romans-sur-Isère, November 21, 2022 (AFP / Jeff PACHOUD)
“Self-taught”, “guru”, “genius”, “crook”… In fifteen years, Sadri Fegaier has built an empire, first in telephone insurance then in services linked to multimedia products. After serial liquidations, his conviction on Tuesday for deceptive commercial practices puts an end to the entrepreneur's run.
In 2010, Sadri Fegaier, son of Tunisian immigrants – housekeeper mother and trucker father -, holder of a BTS in insurance, launched SFAM, after having worked in franchised SFR stores.
“He arrived in this corseted world like a ball in a bowling game,” assured a former partner of the group in 2022. He “created multi-risk mobile phone insurance as we know it today,” another confided to AFP.
Ten years of success followed: 8 million customers, more than a billion euros in annual business volumes and 3,000 employees in Europe. The Hubside.Store group's own stores, offering new or reconditioned multimedia products, are multiplying, as are the services offered.
His right-hand man Jean-Pierre Galera, poached from Altice, found the young boss to have an air of Patrick Drahi. A partner who requested anonymity compared him to Bernard Tapie, “without the flamboyant side”.
– Summits… –
Sadri Fegaier becomes one of the youngest billionaires in France, according to Challenges. In 2018, it discreetly bought 11.35% of Fnac-Darty for 335 million euros, after having won a call for tenders in 2017 to distribute its insurance in these major brands.
Bpifrance and Ardian enter the capital. The group, renamed Indexia, includes programs headed by Bercy.
Attached to his hometown, Romans-sur-Isère (Drôme), devastated since the end of its shoe industry, he built a glass complex there with minimalist interiors and became one of the first private employers in the region, proud to hire young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
A rider in his spare time and owner of a stud farm, Sadri Fegaier nevertheless sees obstacles piling up. A first fraud repression investigation into deceptive commercial practices resulted in a criminal settlement of 10 million euros in 2019.
A second investigation was launched immediately in the face of hundreds of consumer complaints which were accumulating and accusing him of being “a crook”: undue withdrawals without signing an amendment to the contract, amounts withdrawn multiplied to sometimes reach hundreds of euros per month, not taking into account termination requests.
– …at the fall –
The group continues its activities. “Everyone was put to sleep, including us,” says a former partner.
“Even we were fooled,” lamented an employee on the day of the SFAM’s liquidation. Many say they were attracted by the salaries two to three times higher offered to join Indexia's call centers. Union delegates speak of a real “guru”.
In the spring, several entities of the group were placed in compulsory liquidation, signaling the end of the race for this show jumping enthusiast before his criminal trial for deceptive commercial practices, which began at the end of September.
In 2022, the CEO told AFP he was thinking about the horse racing events of the Paris Olympic Games and said he was “serene” at the prospect of being judged by the criminal court.
On Tuesday, he was sentenced to two years in prison, including 16 months, and a fine of 300,000 euros. The 45-year-old businessman, who expressed “no questioning” according to the president of the Paris criminal court, left the room without comment.
On its official website, a few months ago, we could read a quote from Jean-Paul Sartre: “In life we do not do what we want but we are responsible for what we are”.
As hoped by many civil parties who suspected him of wanting to launch new activities based on the same practices, the self-made man was also banned from managing a business for five years.
