SFAM, an insurance broker for multimedia products, was placed in liquidation on Wednesday by the Paris commercial court, at the request of Urssaf Rhône-Alpes, which claimed 11.76 million euros in debts from it.
This judicial liquidation was declared following a closed hearing, which was held in the presence of the CEO of Indexia, parent company of SFAM, Sadri Fegaier. The latter left the court refusing to answer questions from AFP and those from dozens of consumers requesting reimbursement of undue deductions, who had traveled to hand over their personal files to him.
According to Kevin (who refused to give his name), member of the CSE, elected CFDT and present at the hearing in camera, the SFAM was not able to provide the necessary documents to prove its ability to repay its debt to the ‘Urssaf, the organization for collecting social security and family allowance contributions.
The court questioned this representative who recounted the distress of employees many of whom claim not to have been paid in recent weeks. According to this member of the social and economic committee, the judicial liquidation has immediate effects with cessation of activities at least for the employees of SFAM Romans-sur-Isre (Drme).
Hundreds of customers on the floor
The measure will also leave hundreds of people in the lurch, with consumers demanding for months reimbursement of undue deductionsamounting for some to several tens of thousands of euros, deplored Me Emma Leoty, who defends plaintiffs in civil proceedings.
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We are a little desperate, says Catherine Lebe to AFP. Taken 11,000 euros over more than three years, she knows that victims are not priority for reimbursement as part of a judicial liquidation against the company’s main creditors, including Urssaf.
The SFAM has been surrounded by procedures since a first investigation into the repression of fraud for deceptive commercial practices, which resulted in a criminal settlement of 10 million euros in 2019. In addition to civil proceedings initiated by consumers, the insurance broker will be judged at the end of September for deceptive commercial practices before the Paris criminal court, following a second fraud repression investigation.
Insurance: Indexia (ex-Sfam) judged in 2024 for misleading commercial practices
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