Premium numbers: the incredible € 38 million scam

The swindle is simple as a phone call. The leaders of the company Viva Multimedia had clearly understood since they are suspected of having worked to the establishment of a juicy scam with surcharged numbers. Four of the five employees of this Parisian company were indicted for "organized fraud" and "laundering" on 31 May in Paris. According to the estimates of the investigators, in three years, from 2015 to 2018, the gains fraudulently acquired by this SME are estimated at 38 million euros.

In attacking Viva Multimedia, justice has targeted a key player of this scam. The companies that operate the numbers are often installed abroad – and therefore difficult to prosecute – the prosecutor's office has this time concentrated its investigations on this company which acts as an intermediary, suspected of providing the crooks the surcharged numbers they have need. "We realized that Viva Multimedia was at the top of the companies listed on the anti-scam hotline," says a judicial source.

In September 2016, the Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation. The investigations are entrusted jointly to the Central Office for Combating Information Technology and Communication Crime (OCLCTIC) of the Judicial Police and the National Economic Investigation Brigade (BNEE), which is jointly of the Ministry of the Interior and Bercy

The boss "very active in the combine"

The investigators put under surveillance Viva Multimedia, whose offices are installed in the XIIth district of Paris. His boss, Laurent B., is regularly summoned to the local police station when a scam elaborated through the numbers he has made available is reported. "Each time, he explained that he was not responsible for the misuse of these numbers. In order to prove his good faith, he hastened to suppress the tendentious numbers. In appearance, it gave the impression of playing the game ", details a source close to the file.

But the police and the agents of the fisc are not convinced. And the search carried out in September 2017 in the offices of Viva Multimedia will reinforce their fears. "We found documents proving that the boss was fully aware of the illegal use of the numbers made available. It even appears very active in the combine, "says a source at the top of the investigation.

Exorbitant wages

The investigators will then greedily observe the consequences of this search. "The boss obviously got scared because overnight, he stopped collaborating with his dishonest customers. But its monthly turnover has brutally increased from 1.5 million euros to 150,000 euros, says the same source. It was concluded that about 80% of the company's business was related to fraudulent activities. "It is thanks to this calculation that justice has been able to quantify the overall damage to 38 million euros over three years.

The discovery of exorbitant wages of employees of Viva Multimedia will again sit suspicions. Thus, the boss of the SME was pouring the tidy sum of 760 000 euros per year. The accountant emargait, it, to 560 000 euros while the two technicians earned 550 000 euros. The investigations revealed that the sums thus collected were likely to have been laundered in companies established in tax havens. Only the fifth employee of the company received a salary consistent with his activity. Obviously unaware of the alleged cheating of his colleagues, he was not involved in the proceedings.

Facts challenged by the boss

The four suspects were placed in custody late may. The accountant acknowledged the facts, while the other three implicated their innocence. "My client formally contests his participation in fraud or money laundering, insists Me Denis Fayolle, the lawyer of Laurent B. He has, on the contrary, always been attentive to the fight against fraud in a difficult environment because badly regulated. "

So far unknown to the police, the four indicted have been placed under judicial control. Laurent B. will nevertheless have to pay a deposit of 1 million euros and his alleged accomplices 100,000 euros. Investigations continue under the supervision of an examining magistrate, notably to trace the alleged money laundering circuits.

Countless victims

The alleged amount of this fraud may seem surprising in view of the simplicity of the flip property. The sums lost by the victims are relatively modest. Even if some bills rise to 250 euros, especially when it comes to minors, the losses are generally between 10 and 20 euros.

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