• While they thought of investing in the thousands of houses left abandoned after the subprime crisis in Detroit (United States), several hundred French people, mainly located on the Côte d'Azur, would have in fact fueled without their knowledge a vast scam based on the principle of the Ponzi pyramid.
  • The broker who offered the (fake) properties for sale, a French expatriate in the United States, is the subject of an international arrest warrant and three officials of the Côte d'Azur company Antom patrimoine, which would have served as an intermediary, were indicted for "organized gang fraud" in particular.
  • The president of the company in question was even placed in pre-trial detention, 20 Minutes learned from concordant sources.

Several hundred French people, mainly located on the Côte d'Azur, would have been cheated in this case. While they thought they were investing in the thousands of homes left abandoned after the subprime crisis in Detroit (United States), these individuals would have in fact fueled without their knowledge a vast scam. Based on the principle of the Ponzi pyramid: a victim believes he is buying a property and he receives rents that are actually financed by the recruitment of a second buyer. In total, between 40 and 50 million euros could have been embezzled before the collapse of the system at the end of 2019. Seized then by several complainants, the prosecutor's office of Grasse, which opened a preliminary investigation for "fraud" and "breach of trust", finally relinquished jurisdiction. For a year and a half, it is the fine bloodhounds of the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (Jirs) of Marseille who are at the maneuver. And things have been able to accelerate in recent months.

The stakeholders, who pass the buck, are in the crosshairs of justice. The broker who offered the (fake) properties for sale, a French expatriate in the United States, is the subject of an international arrest warrant. And three other people, the managers of the Côte d'Azur company Antom patrimoine, which would have served as an intermediary by proposing these investments, were indicted for "organized gang fraud" in particular. The president of the company in question was even placed in pre-trial detention, 20 Minutes learned from concordant sources. Contacted, his lawyer Christophe Rosa did not wish to comment. "There is an ongoing criminal investigation. So there will be no reaction at the moment."

"Some say we'll never see our money again"

This is very good news for the complainants, more than three years after the launch of the first investigation. "The victims of this international scam live the considerable evolution of this procedure with immense relief, most of them having lost the fruit of a lifetime of work, responded to 20 Minutes Me Xavier Nogueras, who represents several of these aggrieved individuals. We hope that the investigation will succeed in establishing the criminal responsibilities of the many people who contributed to the ruin of our clients. »

Only a trial and convictions could allow them to recover the sums invested. Or at least part of it, via the Crime Victims Recovery Assistance Service (Sarvi) of the Victims' Guarantee Fund. "With my partner, we had invested 60,000 euros each. In the hope of being able to make a contribution for the purchase of a house. Today, our project is no longer possible," says Guillaume Flachon-Fouga, 43, who founded the Association of Victims (ADV) Detroit Real Estate (advdetroitimmo@outlook.fr) and calls on them to come forward.

"It's important that they get closer to us," he says. Currently, there are only about sixty complaints while there are up to 400 people concerned. Some say we will never see our money again. That must be dropped. I believe in it and it is together that we will be stronger. »

The investment looked risk-free

This Cannes resident and his wife would have been among the last to be "recruited" in this infernal mechanism, before the Côte d'Azur company, increasingly suspected of embezzlement, went into liquidation. "I got to know her through a friend who had already made investments through other operations she offered. In November or maybe December 2019, I participated in a meeting that Antom Patrimoine was organizing with great fanfare in a Resort in Sophia-Antipolis. Everything looked square," he says.

On the spot, the investment looks attractive. Risk-free. "We were offered to buy houses that would be rehabilitated and then rented. It involved the creation of an American company, an LLC [Limited liability company], details Guillaume Flachon-Fouga. And, above all, we were strongly encouraged to pay thanks to a seller's credit. Which makes it possible to stagger payments. And which was to be used to feed the system, by paying the rents promised to previous buyers.



"This is a real Ponzi scheme with procedural, technical and complex components. But the French magistrates who have taken the measure of the magnitude of the situation, are working hard to deliver justice, "says Xavier Nogueras. The investigation is ongoing.

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