The individuals suspected of having set up this vast network of fraud had imagined several modes of action to achieve their ends. Establishing a foothold in various European countries, they relied on paid intermediaries responsible for renting vehicles in Germany. During the rental period, the vehicles were sent to France or the Netherlands where they were fraudulently re-registered, then exported outside the European Union.
False imports from Sweden
Another technique was to take leased cars in the Czech Republic and bring them to Strasbourg. Thanks to stolen Swedish documents, the criminals then disguised false imports from the Scandinavian kingdom. The use of false documents also allowed them to re-register vehicles stolen from car dealerships in France, Germany and Italy.
Officials from the Interregional Directorate of the Judicial Police (DIPJ) in Strasbourg established that the main instigator of the network, a Russian national of Chechen origin living in the Strasbourg metropolitan area, was also assisted by specialists in fraudulent fraud. identity or by misappropriation of bank details.
At the end of their investigations, the investigators of the DIPJ brought to light a loss estimated at several hundred thousand euros. They found that the criminals had accumulated a small treasure consisting of foreign currencies, cryptocurrencies, coins and gold bars.
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Four homes and eight cars seized
A crackdown that mobilized multiple services was launched on November 16: eight men were arrested in Strasbourg and Mulhouse, as well as on the side of Reims and Rouen. At the end of their police custody, six suspects were presented to a Strasbourg examining magistrate, who indicted them for theft and fraud by an organized gang. Four of them were imprisoned.
The searches were particularly successful: four properties belonging to the suspected crooks were seized, as well as eight cars including a BMW X6 and an Audi RS3. Many new objects still packed were discovered in the main and secondary residences of the criminals.
Investigations are continuing to try to identify other actors in this criminal network.
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