Little Émile, two and a half years old, has not been found since his disappearance on Saturday July 8, in a hamlet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The prosecution has alerted to the opening of false pots online and threatens to open an investigation for fraud.
A week after the worrying disappearance of little Émile, scams are flooding the Internet, says AFP. This Friday, July 14, Rémy Avon, the public prosecutor of Digne-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) warned their authors: “Émile’s family found that pots had been opened in the name of their child or in the name of the family […] and she would like to point out thatshe is not the origin“. The people who posted these fake pots are threatened with the opening of an investigation if they do not remove them. Fraud is punishable by five years in prison. Internet users can also report these pots to the platforms on which they have been published, and to the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR) or the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF).
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The perpetrators of these scams are not not the first to have tried to play on the heartstrings to make a fortune. Mediums and clairvoyants also sent messages to investigators, the mayor of Vernet (the village where Émile disappeared) and the media, claiming to have succeeded in locating the child. Their tracks have, until then, remained null and void. To avoid the macabre tourism that could be caused by the magnitude of the case, the mayor of Vernet, François Balique, decided by prefectural decree to prohibit access to the municipality to non-residents until Monday July 17.
The investigation to find Emile continues
A week after Émile escaped the vigilance of his grandparents, in the town of Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), the investigation is stalling. The baby boy was last seen by two witnesses, who saw him in a downhill street of the village without stopping him. Search operations in the area ended on Thursday July 13, and the research has since entered an analysis phase. With in particular, according to the prosecutor of Digne-les-Bains, “the huge amount of data“ collected since the beginning of the investigation to be studied, such as the 1,200 messages left on the reserved call line. “No thesis is privilegedno thesis is excluded”recalled the prosecution.
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Passionate about writing, Floréane is interested in a wide variety of subjects. When she’s not writing about current events, the environment or gender issues, she takes refuge under a blanket…