Nearly 800,000 euros in criminal assets, out of a fraud estimated at more than three million euros, were seized as part of an investigation by the Marseille prosecutor’s office into companies that abused owners to convince them to hire renovation work.
This fraud affected more than 300 people in different towns around Marseille.
The companies sent salespeople to the homes of “often elderly and vulnerable” owners and “pretended the entry into force of new standards and the updating of a national file of houses over 10 years old, which in reality did not exist”, explains the Marseille prosecutor’s office in a press release. “They offered to carry out a free inspection of their home, at the end of which they announced the urgency of work supposed to preserve the integrity of the building,” adds the same source.
To “convince the person to sign a work order form, the salespeople, (pretending) the agreement of their boss, granted them a preferential price in exchange for the immediate payment of a payment or the signing of a authorization of collection,” adds the prosecution.
In return for this discount, deceived consumers had to sign a waiver depriving them of their right of withdrawal. According to the prosecution, the sums involved, 8,000 euros on averagesometimes reached several tens of thousands of euros.
The renovation work was carried out
The renovation work was, however, well carried out, the prosecutor’s office told AFP, which opened a preliminary investigation in mid-January “of the heads of deceptive commercial practices in organized gangs and non-compliance with the rules of door-to-door sales and money laundering.”
In this context, the managers of two companies specializing in renovation work on individual houses were placed in police custody, before being released, “the investigation continuing”.
During several searches, investigators seized “ nearly 800,000 euros in criminal assets (…) on the bank accounts of suspected natural and legal persons” as well as “four vehicles”, continues the Marseille prosecutor’s office.
In its press release, the prosecution reminds consumers who think they have been victims of similar practices that they can make a reporting on the “SignalConso” platform. “When the sale is made at the consumer’s home, the professional is prohibited from receiving payment before a reflection period of 7 days,” insists the text.
Reproduction forbidden.