“For ten years, I dragged this scam like a ball and chain.” François Scalais, managing director of Neo Medical Systems SA, a company which notably supplies medical equipment to hospitals in Luxembourg and Belgium, agreed to tell The essentials her painful experience with Philippe Wasila.
This 57-year-old Frenchman, born in Luxembourg, who allegedly defrauded numerous clients in the Grand Duchy, was arrested Monday morning in Athens (Greece), after a search throughout Europe by Europol services. A real relief for François Scalais, at the same time as a nasty booster shot when “the scar was barely closed”.
The scam dates back to 2014 and a fundraising of 500,000 euros from the alleged investment fund of Philippe Wasila, Aconcagua Investments. “Of course, he never paid the funds,” explains François Scalais. Four months later, when he knew the state of our cash flow, he came back to me to demand 80% from the company. My partners/shareholders obviously refused.”
But the damage was done. François Scalais anticipates future payments which will never occur to invest and develop his start-up. The start of an infernal spiral. “I contracted a little over 200,000 euros in debt. I managed not to bankrupt the company, but it cost me five years to repay everything, he remembers. One of my associates lived for five years with his house seized…”.
The fall is tough for the man who was named “the most creative young entrepreneur in 2013 (Editor’s note: Creative Young Entrepreneurs Luxembourg). “High-ranking people at the Ministry of the Economy called me a “looser”, others spread the rumor that I had “burned” 500,000 euros in a few months”, underlines François Scalais.
The man explains that he took time to rebuild himself and that he lowered his ambitions: “I dreamed of being a successful entrepreneur, today I no longer believe in it. I had to wait almost ten years before a bank again gave me a loan to develop my business. I’m glad they arrested this man. I will finally be able to turn the page…”
