Israeli police have arrested three men accused of swindling a businessman out of 8 million euros (US$9 million) by impersonating the French foreign minister and building a replica of his office.
The three Franco-Israelis are accused of passing themselves off as French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian in e-mails and video calls to extract the money, claiming it was for cover operations and ransom money to release hostages held by Islamic extremists.
The three men, aged between 37 and 47, were allegedly caught last month making a call to their victim in an apartment in a suburb of Tel Aviv by police and members of the Israeli international crimes unit Lahav 433.
“They called, sent mails and sometimes used the video call application Skype to pretend to be for the minister himself,” a police source told French journalists.
Investigators say that they have been tracking similar scams since 2015.
HOSTAGE PAYMENTS
This one began in September last year when the alleged fraudsters began calling French company chief executives claiming they were discreetly seeking funds to help to pay ransoms for hostages held in Mali and Syria.
About 40 chief executives were approached, as well as several embassies and consulates.
According to Israeli media, the conmen constructed an exact replica of Le Drian’s office at the Quai d’Orsay — the French foreign ministry in Paris — including matching furniture, a tricolor flag in the background and a picture of French President Emmanuel Macron on the wall.
They are thought to have used a makeup expert to disguise one of the team as the minister, while another posed as Le Drian’s chief of staff for video conferences with several French security companies they were targeting, asking for urgent financial assistance to conduct “security operations,” including hostage rescues from the Islamic State group, arms purchases and other secret operations.
The fraudsters asked those they contacted to keep the approach secret to avoid implicating and embarrassing the French government.
“Most of those contacted did not reply, because it wasn’t quite the usual method used in the diplomatic and business worlds. A number had already heard of a previous attempt at fraud using Le Drian,” a French police officer said.
One businessman fell for the patter and reportedly paid 8 million euros before realizing he had been cheated and contacting police.
Investigators uncovered a complex network of banking operations from eastern Europe to China, but for months were unable to track the fraudsters.
CHINA LINK
“The money went through a European account before it was sent to another in China. After some ‘compensation’ was paid, some of it returned to Israel. In general, money-laundering specialists are different from fraudsters, they keep a 25 percent commission,” a fraud specialist told Le Parisien.
“We learned they had approached a new victim, who was ready to give these three men 2 million euros,” a French police source said.
Officers accompanied the businesswoman to a meeting enabling them to identify and locate the men.
Under questioning, the three men denied any involvement in the fraud.
Investigators said they had seized a yacht in Tel Aviv marina, as well as freezing their property assets.
Paris prosecutors reportedly plan to send their dossier to an Israeli court enabling the accused to be tried in Israel.
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