The man was taken into custody on Tuesday January 7. As a reminder, the platform was closed by JUNALCO on June 25, 2024, and a judicial investigation had been opened.
The manager of the controversial discussion site Coco, used in particular for homophobic attacks and ambushes and closed since June 2024, was placed in police custody this Tuesday, January 7, BFMTV.com learned from the public prosecutor's office in Paris, confirming information from Le Parisien.
He is “heard in an investigation by the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime, under the direction of an investigating judge, who will assess the follow-up to be given”.
The platform, which appears in several legal cases, was closed on June 25, 2024 by the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime. Three days after this closure, a judicial investigation, relating in particular “to the offense of providing an online platform to enable an illicit gang transaction organized since February 23, 2023”, was opened. It also concerned “the laundering of the sums derived from it”.
Coco, “a site for sexual predators” – 04/25
The man heard in police custody this Tuesday January 7 is of Italian nationality. Born in January 1980, he was interviewed by magistrates in Bulgaria, with the support of the Bulgarian investigation services, indicated the Paris public prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, in a press release in August 2024.
-Three of his relatives had been heard
Three relatives of the manager's relatives, suspected of having played an active role in the administration of the platform or profiting from the offenses, “had also been interviewed in France by investigators from the national cyber unit of the gendarmerie, and left free at the end of their hearing”, added the Paris public prosecutor.
The closure of the Coco chat was welcomed by the associations. SOS Homophobia was “rejoiced” at its closure, referring to “a blow against one of the biggest sites which allowed homophobic ambushes to be orchestrated”.
“We are very happy. We have been waiting for its closure for a long time,” reacted Sophie Antoine, advocacy manager for ACPE (Agir contre la Prostitution des Enfants).
A preliminary investigation, initiated in December 2023 by Junalco, had centralized “the procedures of 71 prosecutors, to the detriment of more than 480 victims”, indicated the Paris public prosecutor in her press release in June 2024. In total , more than 23,000 acts had been denounced as having been committed “through” the Coco platform.
Jusine Chevalier with Charlotte Lesage
