By Lucie Vigue
Published on
Their arrest is the result of a thorough investigation by the gendarmerie of Marmande. On February 28, 2023, four men were arrested in the Toulouse region for a vast affair organized gang scams. Their hunting ground: the Leboncoin classifieds site.
Pending their trial, two of them have been placed in custody. The other two placed under judicial supervision. All show a criminal record rather substantial in terms scams and thefts.
A complaint for fraud
It all starts in January 2021. A marmandais goes to the gendarmerie and file a complaint scam. He bought a used car after responding to a classified ad Leboncoin website.
But to regularize the papers and put the vehicle in his name: it is impossible. The administrative procedures related to the sale of cars do not seem to have been carried out by the former owners. And for good reason…
A well-established method
By digging into this case, the investigators uncovered a well-established scam. The whole region was affected.
The modus operandi is terrible. THE suspected crooks locate used cars for sale. They buy them with a check whose account is closed. These accounts are opened and then closed by accomplices (called “mules”), which allows them to have checkbooks and bank details. First-time sellers therefore cannot collect the money and are the first to be defrauded.
Then the alleged crooks resell the cars… In order not to arouse suspicion, they act on ordinary, inexpensive cars, cars of Mr. Everybody.
The four individuals were identified and located on the side of Toulouse before being arrested. For the moment, the Marmandais investigators accuse them 50 organized gang scams for damages of €70,000.
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