René Williams has achieved success in the real estate business. In his flamboyant sixties, this Englishman from Manchester is making millions. Euros, dollars, pounds sterling.
René Williams is immensely rich, but he is alone. So, although he did not speak French perfectly, he registered on the dating site DisonsDemain. René Williams is looking for love. He will find him with Florence (the first name has been changed), a 61-year-old Raphaëloise.
Problem for the Varoise: René Williams does not exist. It took three months for the sixty-year-old to realize that behind this budding romance was hiding a network of “grazers”. During the summer of 2023, Florence spent lavishly. Amount of the pain: 150,000 euros, part of which comes from a loan taken from his father.
“How stupid I am!”
“And again, when I understood, I managed to block a final transfer of 25,000 euros,” she sighs at the bar of the Draguignan criminal court, which examined this case at the end of September. How stupid I am! I’m in incredible trouble, I can’t even repay my father. My friends had warned me, but I didn’t want to believe them… In reality, it was just a joke. »
Full of her love for René, Florence did not see “the amount of inconsistencies” in the crook’s speech. Like this bank account blocked by the authorities in Dubai for a dark affair of payroll tax while the Englishman claims to be a millionaire. This live arrest on the telephone by UAE customs while René was in the duty-free zone. This constant harassment, “ by René, his mother, his partner, his lawyer ”, in order to help him. Or these exchanges exclusively in English with a person met on a French-speaking site.
A defendant studying law
On September 11, 2023, Florence opened her eyes and immediately warned the police. The investigation made it possible to trace a transfer of 5,000 euros which passed through the account of a law student at the Sorbonne of Congolese origin. Once the funds were received, he dispatched them to accounts in Greece and the Netherlands.
“In February 2023, a friend I met in Greece during my studies asked me to do her a favor, details the 24-year-old defendant, prosecuted for money laundering. I had to give him my RIB because a colleague of his companion, who is a jet pilot, was having difficulty paying him a salary. I accepted. Then nothing happened for several months. »
Until June, when the student’s account suddenly showed a credit for funds sent by Florence. “ I asked my friend to send me a copy of the person’s ID card because I was worried about a scam. I was able to verify that everything was good so I forwarded the money. »
The defendant assures that it was only during his custody that he realized he had been manipulated. “ Moreover, he called this friend living in Greece in front of the police without warning her of his situation, explains his Parisian lawyer, Me Jeanne Lombard. She then gave confused explanations, referring to import-export, unrelated to what she had told him before. »
“He lent his help in good faith”
“For someone who is in their fourth year of law, not asking excessive questions about the reasons for a transfer of this kind is incomprehensible, reprimands prosecutor Laurence Barriquand, requesting a three-month suspended sentence and a fine of 3,000 euros. Why believe in this construction, in this transfer which does not go through but which would work coming from France? »
“He was certainly reckless and negligent but he was unaware of the fraudulent origin of the funds, replies Me Lombard, pleading for release. In the African diaspora, transfers are commonplace. He didn’t know that the lady was being scammed. He provided assistance in good faith. »
An argument that hits the mark in court. The student is relaxed. And Florence disappointed. “ Morally, I am devastated. I don’t trust anyone anymore. »
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