The affair hit the headlines in June 2022, when a couple complained of not being able to settle in the house they acquired in the columns of the Parisian in June 2022. The news item turned into a scandal when other elements fueled the conflict: no, it is not about squatters as has been denounced but about a family who claims to be the victim of a scam. Saber B., 41-year-old worker and father of 5 children, spoke in this same daily to assert his version of the facts. He filed a complaint for fraud and aggravated violence.
It all started in Ollainville in Essonne when Saber bought via Issam A., “an acquaintance who presents himself as the owner“, a house for sale. He makes her sign “a false sales agreement on August 29, 2021“, “over-the-counter contract, as can be done in Tunisia“explains his master lawyer Samia Maktouf. “In the country, it happens like this“, justifies Saber B., who has a poor command of French.
Except this contract is a fake, the house belongs to the niece of an elderly lady who died. She regularly fights against squatters. She had decided to part with this very bulky accommodation and sell it through a real estate agency. Noting that “the house is not legally occupied, so the agency offers it at a low price“to the famous couple, Laurent and Élodie, who knowingly signed a promise of sale on March 2, 2022 at the notary. Agency and notary did not wish to respond to the solicitations of the Parisian.
The house bought legally by Laurent and Elodie, was therefore also bought by Saber but the latter says he was defrauded by Issa, now on the run in Tunisia. “Of the 120,000 euros requested by Issam A., Saber B. would have made a transfer of 43,000 euros and would have given him the rest in cash“, according to his lawyer. He had managed to deal with the squatters who were there in exchange for work during his move in and had then educated all his children in the neighborhood.
One house, two sales
Two parallel purchases which collapse when Elodie and Laurent want to settle down. Saber claims to have received at least three visits from the couple between March and May 2022.”They came to offer me 2,000 euros to leave, then 5,000, then 10,000“, he says. When contacted, Laurent contradicts him: “It’s not true, I would never have given him a penny. It was he who demanded 10,000 euros, then 5,000, then 2,000 the night I went on TV [dans l’émission Touche pas à mon poste]. It’s covert racketeering.“
This is followed by the “moving party” for Elodie and Laurent, the “settlement of accounts” for Saber in May. According to a video viewed by the daily, “the couple climbed the gate, then were joined by a dozen burly friends, sometimes helmeted or masked“. It was shortly after these facts that the couple gave themselves up in The Parisian and that the case takes another turn which goes as far as the Ministry of the Interior. Saber and his family are expelled by the police. The newspaper then reports that the family was attacked when he left. A complaint was filed for aggravated violence, home invasion and degradation in a meeting. Saber and his wife will receive two days of total interruption of work (ITT) each. No arrests have been made so far.
The family, temporarily rehoused in a hotel in Essonne, will file a request to claim ownership so that Saber recovers the accommodation, even if his chances are slim. The father also wants to know why he was beaten with his children: “I’m here to work, not to fight, I don’t want any more problems.“Laurent is also ready to fight to the end for his home.